


The Bat and the Cat

by acw28



Category: Batman Beyond
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Dana is Catwoman, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-01-25 18:51:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 51,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21360997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acw28/pseuds/acw28
Summary: News of Batman's reappearance in Neo-Gotham quickly spread through the city. Many welcome the news, feeling safer in their homes, while others scoff at the idea, content with the power they hold over the mighty city. For one person however, they see an opportunity. "One thing I've learned both with and without my mask is that for every Bat, there must be a Cat."
Relationships: Relationships tagged as they happen, Terry McGinnis/Dana Tan
Comments: 17
Kudos: 18





	1. A Continued Legacy

Here's one of the stories I've enjoyed writing the most.

So one day I was feeling nostalgic and surprised when I saw Batman Beyond, one of my favorite shows from my childhood, on Netflix and couldn’t resist watching. After the first season I noticed how under used some of the characters were, as well as while some of Bruce’s former nemesis were reference, one was noticeably absent. From there the wheels began to turn and some ideas started to develop.

This is an AU story where I’m going to adapt some episodes while also providing original story lines (the show was somewhere around 50 episodes, there’s no way that covers all of Terry’s career as Batman). So with that final note, I hope everyone enjoys the first chapter.

Disclaimer: I, the author of this fanfic, otherwise known as acw28, claim no ownership of the copyright of Batman Beyond. If I did own the series there would be a live action movie in production.

* * *

After checking the time on her cell phone again, Dana Tan confirmed that her oh so wonderful boyfriend Terry McGinnis had stood her up, again. The pair were supposed to spend the day together at the mall to make up for the previous missed dates. The teen had everything planned out to, a brief bite to eat at the food court than an afternoon showing of a movie before she used the boy as her personal pack mule to carry a number of bags while she went shopping.

Dana tried to be understanding, what with Terry’s father being murdered by Jokerz and him moving back in with his mom and younger brother, and then finding a job to help support the family. She guessed he found a pretty good one, the Bruce Wayne must pay quite well with the amount of time her boyfriend spent chauffeuring the old man around. Still, it was annoying to have an entire day’s plan just thrown out without proper notice. Really she wouldn’t be that mad if she could call one of her friends to hang out, but all of them were unavailable. Chelsea was grounded by her father, Blade had a date, and Max was still visiting colleges, Dana still didn’t understand how the girl could keep her above 4.0 GPA even when she wasn’t in the state.

The thought of calling her dad for a ride home briefly crossed Dana’s mind before she decided against it. Her father never really warmed up to Terry, not being able to see past the teen’s days as part of a gang. It was hard enough to get her dad to allow her out of the house for the date, she didn’t want to hear another lecture from her father about how she was wasting her life away with Terry. Her mind made up, Dana started her odyssey into the various stores.

About half an hour later, the teen came to an oddity, a store she’d never visited before. ‘Boutique Chat?’ the girl questioned as she read the semi-foreign name. Deciding she had nothing to lose, she walked into the store and could instantly tell how the boutique got its name. While there were plenty of finely made dresses, almost all the accessories were shaped in some semblance of a feline. As she wondered the store, occasionally pulling something from the shelf to try on, something caught her eye. It was just a pair of relatively cheap silver earring shaped to resemble cat heads with small jewels serving as eyes. Yet as she looked at the earrings, Dana felt a familiar itch.

Everyone had their secrets, for Dana it was the fact that she was a kleptomaniac. She mostly had her impulse under control, but it use to cause her a lot of trouble. It was actually fairly ironic that it was those impulses that initially lead her to meeting Terry. When she was in Sixth grade some mall cop had caught her trying to sneak away with some shoes and threw her in the mall’s holding cell until her father showed up. Terry was already there, having been in some fight and the only one involved to be apprehended. With nothing else to do the two started talking before Dana’s father showed up. While shocked when they saw each other on the first day of High School, neither brought up the incident, both wanting to forget it for different reasons.

While she could ordinarily keep impulses under control, Dana was having trouble today. It was always better if she went shopping with at least one other person, the social stigma associated with stealing was enough to make her think twice about swiping something. It also didn’t help that school and relationship troubles were causing added stress to the girl.

Finally deciding to indulge in the impulse just one more time, the teen checked the price to ensure she could pay for the earrings if she did get caught, confident she could play it off that she had forgotten about them in the worst case scenario. Her mind made up, the girl took the jewelry off the rack and slipped it among the clothes she was carrying.

After making her way to the fitting room, Dana carried on as usually until she came to the dress that was above the earrings. After holding the clothing in front of her and looking at the mirror, she grabbed her purse, opening it to get a wipe and a different shade of lipstick. Her items retrieved she placed the still open purse on top of the clothing pile. After cleaning her lips with the wipe and applying the new lipstick, she decided that the dress didn’t look right and used the wipe again to clean her lips, retrieving her previous shade from her purse as she laid the other tube of make up on top of the earrings. Once she was satisfied with her reapplied lipstick, and deciding that she didn’t like the dress that much, the teen slid the makeup back into her purse, the earrings hidden underneath.

Now that the hard part was over, Dana continued trying on the clothes she’d picked out. Some she liked, but the majority looked better in the soft lighting of the store when compared to the bright lights of the fitting room. Her purchases decided, the teen deposited her returns in the basket beside the door before going to the counter and paying for the few things she liked enough.

After paying Dana turned to leave only to find her way blocked by a massive man. After panicking briefly, she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw he wasn’t wearing a mall security uniform, yet the fact he had sunglasses and an ear piece like some retro mobster did give her a slight pause. Finally deciding to act with confidence, the girl asked, “Is there a problem?”

The man only shrugged his shoulders before saying, “The boss would like to talk to you.”

After a quite gulp, Dana nodded her head and allowed herself to be lead to the back of the story. She could run, but she knew it was useless, in her shoes she’d be caught almost right away. After a few minutes of walking, the pair came to an elevator where the man pushed a button. Once the doors were opened, he motioned for Dana to enter alone. Growing even more nervous, the teen nonetheless complied.

* * *

After a short ride in the elevator, the doors opened directly into a spacious office. Aside from the few cat paintings and ceramics, the only furniture was two chairs before a large desk where the girl saw an older woman, probably in her mid to late 70s judging by the fair amount of wrinkles and white hair, was busy filling out some paper work. Awkwardly, Dana walked into the room and took one of the seats while she waited. After five minutes of silence, she opened her mouth to speak only to have the woman hold up her hand. Activating the built in keyboard, the woman typed a few commands before a projector somewhere in the room caused a video of Dana swiping the earrings to appear in midair above the desk.

“You’re good,” the woman began as she spoke for the first time, “if I didn’t know what to look for I wouldn’t know you lifted the earrings.”

“Listen, if this is about paying…” Dana began, only to be cut off.

“Now honey,” the woman said as she leaned over the desk, a cat-like smile on her face, “if I wanted your money I wouldn’t want you brought to my office.”

“Then what do you want?”

“Simple, you work for me now.” The woman stated.

“And if I say no?” Dana asked.

The woman’s eyes gained a dangerous glint as she said, “Then I could always show this video to the police, or maybe your parents.” Dana didn’t know which she feared more at the moment, the strange woman in front of her or her dad learning she gave into the impulse again. Hesitantly, the teen nodded her head, accepting the deal. The woman regained her smile as she said, “Great,” before jotting something down on a piece of paper and handing it to the girl, “come to this address tomorrow and be on time.” Dana accepted the paper before getting up to leave the room, hearing the woman make one last comment, “And be sure to enjoy the earrings.”

* * *

As she rode the elevator down, Dana tried to process what had just happened. She hardly believed the events herself and she’d been a participant in them! Yet that didn’t matter to the girl right now. Right now she needed to come up with a convincing lie for her dad and her friends as to why she decided she needed and applied for a job in the same day.

As she drove along the deserted road, Dana couldn’t help but feel like she was making a mistake. Her dad had bought her lie about wanting to be more responsible with her own finances and that she’d save the majority of her paycheck while using the rest for fun. In truth her father was just glad he wasn’t the only person paying for her clothes and nights out. Most of her friends thought the opposite, that she should enjoy her father’s generosity for as long as possible, at least Terry was supportive of her.

Finally after what felt like an eternity, the girl arrived at the address, an estate from the pre-Neo-Gotham days. While not as large as Wayne Manor, the house was still nothing to shake a stick at, no wonder the woman didn’t need Dana’s money. As she pulled up to the gate, the teen got ready to get out of her car only for the gates to open for her. As she passed under the large iron arch, Dana ideally noted the “SK” in the center.

After driving up what seemed to be a mile long driveway, Dana got a better view of the manor, a large yet simple two story house with a few Roman style columns at the entrance. After parking and walking up to the door, the teen half expected to be turned away and told she’d gone to the wrong house, only for the old woman from yesterday to open the door. “Well come on in girl, we don’t have all day.” Although unsure about the entire situation, Dana still followed orders.

“You said you had a job for me?” The teen asked as she was lead through the house, noting the high number of cats featured in the various artworks.

“In due time honey, but this isn’t the place.” the woman said as she lead Dana into what appeared to be an office. Walking into the room, the teen saw that it was practically identical to the one downtown, the difference being a series of framed newspapers on the walls. Seeing as she hadn’t been ordered to do anything yet, and with her curiosity peaked, Dana walked passed a few and glanced at their headlines.

‘Museum Robbed. Priceless Diamonds Stolen. Art House Heist.’ the girl read each as she passed by, wondering why a successful businesswoman would save these papers. Her answer came when she read the last paper’s headline, ‘Catwoman Strikes Again!’ Suddenly the cat art made sense. Surprised at this, Dana couldn’t stop herself as she said, “Holy shit, you’re Selina Kyle, you’re Catwoman!”

“Yes, I am. Or rather I was.” Selina said as she took her seat, indicating the girl to take the other one.

“So why invite me here?” Dana questioned as she sat down, “I could save myself a lot of trouble, make one call to the NGPD and get you arrested.”

In response to the teen’s threat, Selina laughed. “They really don’t teach kids much in schools these days, do they?” Dana wasn’t sure if the question was directed at her or rhetorical and choose to remain silent. “Before I left Gotham, I infiltrated a cat worshiping cult and stole practically all there funds, along with their diamonds. The big bad bat was still upset with me over some small thing so I left the city and set up shop in Paris. Now I’m sure you’re at least somewhat familiar with Darkside’s attempted invasion, right?” The teen nodded her head, she knew the basics they taught in school, but not much else. “Well it wasn’t just Metropolis that was affected,” Selina continued, “Paris was hit pretty rough as well, and you can’t rob a city that’s destroyed, so I put on my old gear and helped where I could. After everything calmed down, those who’d done smaller crimes, such as theft in my case, were given full pardons.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re here.” Dana interrupted.

Selina only shook her head, a smile still present on her lips, “Youth today, so impatient. Well honey, to answer your question a girl can only stand risking her life so many times, so I decided to use what I had left to start a legitimist business. As for why I’m here, everyone has to go home eventually.”

“Okay, I get that.” Dana said. “So this job, what is it? Am I going to have to be your assistant or something like that?”

The teen was a bit unnerved at how large the older woman smiled, “Or something like that. Tell me Dana, what do you know of the new Batman?”

“New Batman?” Dana questioned, “I thought it was the same guy, he just took a break for a while…” she weakly finished.

“Honey, the old Batman is as old as I am, and no one disappears for 20 years just to show up out of the blue. Let’s not forget they just don’t match up. Trust me, after spending as much time as I had next to the old Bats, the new one, while certainly muscular, is scrawny in comparison.”

“That’s interesting and everything, but what does that have to do with my job?”

“Simple,” if it were possible, Selina’s grin grew even more as she said, “one thing I’ve learned both with and without my mask is that for every Bat, there must be a Cat.”

“You want me to be Catwoman?” Dana asked. Not waiting for an answer, she got up and started walking away as she said, “Go ahead and call my dad, there’s no way I’m doing this. I may have taken a small knickknack now and again, but I am nowhere close to the thief you were.” As her hand touched the doorknob, Dana froze as she heard Selina ask a simple question.

“It’s for the rush isn’t it? That’s why you shoplift?” When the girl stopped, Selina knew she had her. “Let’s make a compromise. You spend the next three months training and doing jobs for me and we’ll call it even. Sound like a deal?”

Dana couldn’t believe that she was actually contemplating this. She had her impulses under control, most of the time. Sure she had the occasional relapse, but she couldn’t deny how much of a rush she got from shoplifting. The more she thought about, the more the girl realized she stole more so for the thrill than for anything else, she couldn’t even remember if she ever wore the last thing she stole before the earrings, some scarf or something. Sighing, the teen released the doorknob. Turning around, she said, “I’m not stealing from some mom and pop shop.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Seeing the small amount of doubt in the girl’s eyes, Selina explained, “Even the old Batman couldn’t take care of all the crime and I doubt the new one is any different. They don’t have as big a hold on the city as they did in the past, but the mob still has several families in the city.”

“You want me to steal from organized crime? Are you crazy!” Dana yelled.

Selina only shrugged her shoulders as she replied, “I use to wear spandex and swing from skyscrapers using a whip. I also counted a psychotic psychiatrist and a woman who was essentially a living plant among my friends. Make of that what you will. As for the mob, did you forget that you’d be wearing a mask?” Any other questions Dana had were quickly forgotten as Selina entered a code on her keyboard. The bookshelves in the offices slid away to reveal a large hidden room. The room was filled mostly with gym equipment, although Dana saw a set of parallel bars and suspended rings, along with a computer and what looked like an operating table and some medical supplies towards the far wall. She was brought out of her thoughts as her boss said, “You’re mine for the next three months,” pausing to toss a bundle to the girl, who fumbled with it for a few seconds before catching it, the elderly woman then continued, “get changed then start running laps, we have a long way to go in improving your strength, speed, endurance, and flexibility.”

“And what are you going to be doing?” Dana questioned as she began to leave the room to change.

Selina walked towards the operating table, which had an assortment of fabric and robotic spread around, as she said, “I have somethings to finish up.”

* * *

To say that the past few months were exhausting for Dana would be an understatement. Everyday after school she’d go to Selina Kyle’s estate to train to near exhaustion, then drive home for a quick dinner with her dad before collapsing in her bed. On top of that she had to maintain her social life by keeping up with the latest gossip with Chelsea. She was grateful that her new “boss” was kind enough to let her skip practice the few days Mr. Wayne allowed Terry off, even if one of those dates was interrupted by Willie Watt and his robot crashing the dance. Yet those free days were few and far between. Just this afternoon Terry had asked her if she had time for a quick date, unfortunately Selina had already scheduled mandatory training. At least her boyfriend wouldn’t be alone, Bruce Wayne made the uncharacteristic public appearance to talk to Terry about something.

As she walked through the halls, Dana wondered what Selina would have her do today. So far she’d been alternating between strength training, cardio exercises and gymnastics, which she had to admit was helping her out a lot, she could do the splits! Selina also introduced whip training last week, which surprisingly the girl was fairly good at, after hitting herself a few times. Despite all the interesting new skills she’d acquired, the teen was still glad it was the second to last day of her “employment.”

Once at the office, Dana opened the door to find Selina already in the training room, putting the last touches on whatever her project was. After clearing her throat to get the woman’s attention, the teen saw Selina smile before saying, “Good, you’re here.” The older woman then grabbed whatever she was working on and handed it to the girl. “Now put this on quickly and get back here.”

Although she didn’t completely understand what she was ordered to do, Dana still followed instructions. After changing out of her street clothes and into whatever she was given, the teen did have to wonder, for the millionth time, what exactly she’d gotten herself into. Walking back to the office, Dana asked, “Is this really necessary?” referring to the skintight, dark purple catsuit with black details on the armored claws, forearms, shoulders, chest, and lower legs.

“Of course it is. You need to be stealthy, not flashy, which means we need the bare minimum.” the “former” thief answered before asking, “And how is this any different than that short dress you usually wear?”

Slightly angered by the question, Dana responded by saying, “What I wear gives Terry a hint about what’s underneath while leaving plenty to the imagination. I might as well be naked while wearing this.” She then held up the helmet, which was the same color as the suit with large decorative ears and yellow eyes, and asked, “How am I supposed to fit my hair in this thing? And where’s the whip?”

Selina only shook her head as she walked behind the girl. “I usually kept my hair short because of this, but when I was first starting out there was a little trick I learned.” Faster than the girl expected, the older woman had undone the back of the suit, pulled the girl’s hair taunt against her skin, then closed the suit and put on the helmet. Dana felt a slight pain as her hair was pulled, but once the helmet was on, she was able to pull some of her hair forward into the helmet, reliving the pressure.

“As for the whip,” Selina continued as if nothing had happened, “it’s on your hip.” she finished as she pointed to a silver rectangle seemingly attached to the suit’s left hip. Sensing the teen’s question, the woman continued, “It’s an encrypted lock that will only let you unhook it. Go ahead, give it a try.”

Still no believing the woman’s words, Dana put her right hand on the metal and pulled outward. To her surprise, the rectangle easily came away from the suit as a semi-solid red beam emitted from one end. “Is this a laser whip?” Dana wondered aloud.

“Yes it is, I thought it was time for some upgrades.” Selina said with her cat-like grin. “The suit is synapse controlled and has neuro-muscular amplification.” feeling the blank look she received, Selina corrected herself by saying, “Any gadget you need from the suit just needs you to think to activate it while the suit itself will also make you slightly stronger and faster. The suit also has a stealth function that’ll essentially allow you to disappear, but it drains the internal power supply. Aside from that you also have increased hearing due to the ultrasensitive microphones in the helmet’s ears, not to mention the communicator in the helmet in case I need to walk you through a few obstacles.”

“I’m not going to lie,” Dana said as she looked over herself in a mirror, “this is pretty schway.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Selina said as she walked back to her desk to punch in a new code, resulting in a seemingly empty room appearing in place of the usual training room. The only feature present in this new room was a large white circle on the ground. “Now why don’t we test it out?”

Figuring that some holograms would appear, nothing that her mentor hadn’t introduced before, Dana confidently walked into the middle of the ring. She saw as Selina entered a code into her computer, but was caught by surprise as a number of laser turrets popped out of the walls. As if sensing her fear, Selina told the teen, “Relax honey, they’re only set to stun. Do try to stay in the circle.” before hitting one more key.

Dana thought she’d gotten fairly fast during the training, and it showed as she was able to dodge the first two laser bolts. Everything after that was downhill. The lasers may have been set to stun, but that didn’t mean they hurt any less when they struck, a lesson Dana learned when she was first hit in the shoulder. Not expecting the pain, the teen cried out as she brought her hand to her tender shoulder, yet as she stood still she was struck five more times. As she barely dodged the incoming fire, the teen called out, “Can’t I have a second to get my breath?”

“Whoever is shooting at you out there won’t let you take a break, so no.” Selina told her student before adding, “When you’re able to go ten minutes without being hit we’ll move on.”

Dana froze as she questioned, “Ten minutes?” However, this proved to be a mistake as another shot hit her between her shoulder blades. The teen really couldn’t describe what happened next, only that she became increasingly angry. Releasing a battle cry, Dana swung her whip left and right as she dodged a number of laser bolts. Oddly, as some of the lasers came closer she acted on instinct and instead of dodging she used the claws of her free hand to bat the bolts away.

Finally the lasers stopped, allowing Dana to calm down after a few deep breaths. Stalking over to the still seated Selina, the teen tore off her helmet before throwing it on the ground. As she arrived in front of the desk, she pulled her hair out from her suit, careful not to cut it with her claws, and said, “Ten minutes? I don’t know what you expect from me but I’m not going to be as good a Catwoman as you were.”

“No,” Selina said as she stood up, then forced the teen to turn around, revealing the destroyed torrents littering the training space, “you need more practice but in time you’ll be better than I ever was.”

Slightly shocked at what she was capable of, Dana quickly shook away such thoughts as she said, “You’ve got for one more day and then your three months are up. Now I’m going to change out of this and go home.”

The older woman only nodded her head as she mumbled to herself, “We shall see honey, we shall see.”

* * *

As it was the weekend, Selina had Dana over at her estate early in the morning. After changing into the suit and practicing for a few hours to get a better feel for it, the older woman announced that Dana was ready and would set out on her first heist after lunch. When the girl asked why she’d need to leave so early, Selina explained how the store she’d be robbing was a good distance away and how it’d be dark by the time she arrived. As she took of her helmet to eat the simple sandwich, Dana couldn’t help but wonder what Mr. Wayne was having Terry do.

* * *

It hadn’t been a fun week for Terry. Sure, he stopped Power’s radioactive waste dumping and he got to rattle a few Jokerz skulls, but the main work the old man had him doing was just plain boring.

“Seriously Bruce,” the teen questioned over the communicator in the Batsuit, “will you just give it up on Fries? “

“You may think I’m paranoid, but that thing is just a ticking time bomb.” Bruce Wayne, the original Batman, replied.

“Geez, I know you two were enemies back in the day, but isn’t that a bit too far?” the teen questioned. “I mean Victor Fries seems to just want to…”

Bruce cut the teen of by saying, “That thing is not Victor Fries!”

Taken aback by the venom in the old man’s words, Terry stopped on the nearest building and asked, “Powers had his head and put his brain in a new body, seems pretty simple to me. Or is there something you’re not telling me?”

Terry could hear the old man sigh on the other side of the communicator as he got ready to relive an old memory, “You know of the Scarecrow’s Night of Fear, when he put fear toxin in Gotham’s water supply and let the various villains and hired mercenaries run lose?” Even though the old man couldn’t see it, Terry still nodded, “The public doesn’t know everything. In the course of the night a ship, an Icebreaker, was on a collision course for Gotham Harbor, only to be stopped from inside by an iceberg. When I investigated I found Mr. Freeze at the helm, saying that the mercenaries Scarecrow hired had kidnapped his wife to force his allegiance, luckily he allowed me to find her before he did anything drastic.”

“His wife was in cryo-sleep while Fries worked on a cure for her illness, right?” Terry asked to insure he remembered his History correctly. “So you found her before she de-thawed and convinced Freeze to turn the ship around.”

“Not exactly,” Bruce countered, “the mercenaries had set up a number of decoys. When I found the right pod and took out the guards it was too late. The best I could do was restore Nora Fries to full consciousness, afterwards I was able to take her to Fries’ ship. She told him that being frozen wasn’t a life she wanted and she’d rather spend a few days with him than have her husband spend an eternity searching for a cure that might not exist, the man was saddened but agreed with her. The last time I saw Victor and Nora Fries was when their ship disappeared over the horizon.”

“If the Fries disappeared over 50 years ago, then why do the files I “recovered” say that Powers has had Freeze’s head for close to 20 years?” Terry questioned his mentor.

“It happened during the last few years I still ran my company, a team had discovered the Icebreaker in the Arctic Ocean. The bodies were found, nothing of Nora could be recovered while the torso of Victor was almost perfectly preserved. Not being able to remove the body from the suit, or having the capabilities to transfer the body and suit in sub-zero conditions, the team opted to take only the head. When word reached me during a board meeting, one of the members suggested we try jumpstarting what was left of Fries’ brain with footage of his past crimes as well as what was available in the report form the last time he went to Arkham.”

“But that report was a long time before Scarecrow’s Night of Fear.” Terry finished. As he saw Fries exit the TV studio, the teen continued, “Powers must have heard about the idea once he took charge and didn’t have any moral objections to see the project through. Your worried that Fries’ intellect was revived, but with little of his humanity.”

“That is exactly what I fear.” Bruce confirmed Terry’s suspicions, slightly proud the boy could piece everything together. “This is one instance where I hope I’m wrong. Whatever the outcome, let’s hope Powers doesn’t do anything to anger Freeze, I’d rather not live through a new Ice Age.”

* * *

Dana was learning to trust Selina’s advice. As she couldn’t drive her car to the store, and since her boss didn’t have any other means of transportation, the girl was forced to walk to the target. Although in this case walking meant using her claws to climb up buildings, leaping across impossible gaps, and using her laser whip to swing underneath overpasses. She wouldn’t lie, she was afraid at first, but after the first few heart stopping jumps from the roof top, the running felt liberating.

As she approached the target, the girl caught a glimpse of the news on one of the jumbo screens that littered the city. “So Mr. Freeze is going after Derek Powers, that doesn’t sound so good.” Dana said to herself.

“Don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth.” Selina said over the headset. “Freeze is attracting the attention of almost every cop in the city,” the older woman paused as Batman made an appearance on the screen, “as well as our main problem. The shop should be unguarded, and even if you trip an alarm the police will be too busy doing damage control to pay much attention.”

“Alright, I hear you,” as Dana’s eyes settled on the target, a small jewelry store, she breathed out before saying, “let’s get this over with.”

Falling forward off the skyscraper, the girl waited a few seconds before activating her whip. Latching onto a gargoyle from the building next door, Dana swung towards the target store, stealthily landing on the roof. Finding an entrance point was easy, she just tore the grate off the ventilation system before crawling through the ducts. Once she was above the showroom, the teen cycled through her optics until she came to inferred. “Hmm, no laser tripwires for the alarm.” Switching to x-ray, Dana saw a series of wires underneath the floor that lead to a box on the wall of the office. “Guess the floor has pressure pads that trip the alarm.” After switching to night vision, the girl kicked open one of the vents, careful to keep it from falling onto the floor, before using her claws to crawl along the ceiling and into the office. Easily spotting the power box, the teen opened her communicator and asked, “Hey boss, does this suit have anything hacking related?”

“Of course honey, just put your right pointer and middle fingers on the electronic and you should be good.”

Following instructions, the girl was surprised at the box sparking, but breathed a sigh of relief when the light turned green. After double checking that the pressure pads and alarm was offline, the girl flipped onto the floor before wandering around the store. ‘So many gems,’ so thought to herself, ‘too bad I didn’t bring a…’ her thoughts were cut off when a large synthetic bag popped out of one of the compartments on her hip, ‘bag? Well that was lucky.’

With the alarm disabled, the girl abandoned subtlety. The next few minutes were spent smashing open display cases and shoving the jewelry into the bag. As she was finishing up, the girl turned her attention to the office. A quick look with the x-ray vision showed the wall safe hidden behind a painting of a diamond neckless. After seeing the cliché, the girl half expected the safe to have an old tumbler lock, but was pleasantly surprised to see an electronic lock, which was quickly hacked. After stuffing the credits, gold, and large uncut jewels into the bag, the girl began to go out the way she came before pondering something.

“Hey boss, what should I do about the security tape?”

“Leave it.” Selina replied, “The footage is being stored at a location off-site, besides you can use some grainy images to make the public notice you, get the momentum started for when you deserve the recognition for a bigger heist.”

Although she thought she should be as stealthy as possible, Dana replied, “You’re the boss.” as she pushed her bag into the ventilation duct, being sure to close the grate after she climbed in.

* * *

The trip back to the Kyle estate seemed to go by quickly. Luckily there weren’t any police in the area, all available units needed to help clean up the massive amount of ice Mr. Freeze had conjured at the Wayne-Powers building, thankfully Batman had stopped the resurrected villain before any serious damage could occur.

Stepping into Selina’s office, Dana opened the bag before dumping its contents onto the desk. Once the bag was empty, the teen removed her mask, revealing a satisfied smirk. “So boss, how’d I do?”

The older woman smiled as she said, “Pretty good for your first haul, a shame there won’t be another one.”

Confused, Dana questioned, “What do you mean?”

In response, Selina pointed to the digital clock, showing the time to be 11:03. “In 47 minutes it’ll be a new day and our deal will be done.”

Saddened at the news, Dana quickly got an idea and asked, “Does it have to end?” Seeing the older woman raise her eyebrow, Dana quickly continued, “I didn’t think I would, but I had fun doing this. You said that this jewelry store was a front for the mob, so in a way I’m helping the city, so why not continue? We both win, I get the rush while you get someone to continue your legacy.”

Selina’s cat-like grin reappeared as she said, “I guess we’ll make a Catwoman out of you yet.”

“Who’s to say you haven’t already?” Dana countered before nodding to the loot and asking, “So what are you going to do with all this?”

“I still have a few less than legal contacts, I’ll have a middle man contact them to get the jewels recut and sold, I’ll probably use some of the profits to upgrade your suit and give you some pay, the rest I’ll donate to some animal or children’s charities.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Dana said before reaching into the pile and pulling out a simple silver bracelet, “but I think I’ll be keeping this one.”

“Taking a trophy are you?”

“Well I need something to remember the heist with, something nice but cheap enough I can say I bought it, and none descript enough that it can’t be traced back to the store.”

“That’s pretty thought out, where did you learn to think like that?” Selina teased.

“I learned from the best.” As she got up to change and go home, the teen turned around and asked, “Same time tomorrow?”

Her mentor waved her off as she said, “It’s the weekend and you just had your first heist, go home and relax.”

“You got it boss.” Catwoman replied with a smirk.

* * *

And that’s a wrap of the opening chapter with 12 pages.

I hoped everyone enjoyed this chapter, even if there wasn’t that much action. While this chapter was mainly about Dana learning and accepting the Catwoman identity, the more action packed stuff will come later. Until then there are a few questions, such as…

How will being Catwoman affect Dana’s life?

Why did she use her claws to bat away some of the lasers?

What will happen if her secret identity is discovered?

To find out the answers to all these questions and more, stay tooned for the next chapter of The Bat and the Cat.

Until then, here’s acw28 saying, “until next update.”


	2. Fate's New Hand

Before we get into the story, I’ve got to admit that I goofed up. I thought the Mister Freeze episode came before the first Royal Flush gang, not after. As I had plans for a certain character throughout the story, I decided to do something a bit drastic. Instead of adapting the series in the episodic order, I’m going to jump around a lot. This choice will also allow me to bring a storyline forward which will have a much greater impact with the changes I’m planning.

After saying all of that, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Beyond, if I did Dana would have more importance after season 2 and Max would appear in Return of the Joker.

* * *

“You’re sure you’ll be there?” Dana asked through her cellphone.

“Of course, when have I ever lied to you?” Terry replied on the other end.

“Well… not willfully, but Mr. Wayne does cause you to miss a lot of dates.” Dana stated and waited for her boyfriend’s excuse. When the line remained silent, the teen asked, “Ter, you still there?”

“Sorry babe,” the boy quickly said, “something for Mr. Wayne just came up and I need to run him into the city. I’ll see you tonight.” He hung up before Dana had a chance to respond.

Sighing, the girl was about to put her own cellphone away when it started ringing, the screen displaying a picture of a blue eyed blonde with a pixie cut. Smiling, Dana answered, “Hey Chelsea, what’s up?”

“Just making sure you’re still coming to the club tonight, even if your twip of a boyfriend stands you up, again.” the other girl said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there.” Dana reassured her friend, “As for Terry, well he does have his job.”

“Yeah, but you work to and you’ve never backed out on your plans.” At the mention of work, Dana casted an eye toward her jewelry box. She’d gone out on a few more heists, a pair of earrings and a small gold ring being her trophies. Just as Selina had predicted a few grainy photographs had made their way around the news networks, but hardly anyone paid that much attention.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, Dana repeated, “I’ll be there, and whatever happens with Terry happens.”

“Okay, no need to get defensive about it.” Chelsea quickly said before adding, “I just think it may be time for you to think about getting a guy who pays as much attention to you as you do to him. Later, see you in a few hours.”

When the line once more hung up, Dana had some more food for thought. If she could make her double life work, then how come Terry couldn’t find the time for her? Throwing herself onto the bed, the teen tried to figure out what to do. Her usual choice was to suit up and go for a run to get her mind off of things, but that wasn’t an option since Selina was out of town for a few days meeting some old friends. Finally the girl decided to just let the events of the night happen, as she told Chelsea, whatever happens, happens.

* * *

Right as Terry hung up on Dana, he noticed the group of five fly towards the large yacht on what looked to be giant playing cards. Zooming in with the Batsuit’s optics revealed that they all wore skintight costumes that had a black and white color schemes, although each had their own unique touches. The first wore some sort of crown and carried a sword, the next had a black cap and had a scepter in her hands, another had a black hair piece and knives on his wrists. The last two were the least decorative, one appeared to be a hulking man with a large spade symbol on his chest while the last looked to be a teenage girl, one half of her body black and the other white, a black 10 printed on the white half of her chest. As he saw the group disable the security team and begin robbing the guests, Terry contacted Bruce.

“It’s getting crazy over there,” through his optics, the boy watched as the one with 10 on her suit dragged the heavy bag towards the crowned one. “People dressed up as playing cards are robbing the place.”

“Did you say playing cards?” Bruce demanded, the shock evident in his voice.

“Yep, they travel in your circles?” Terry asked.

“I’m afraid so.”

“Whelp, I better go introduce myself.” Terry said before gliding from his perch. As he came upon the yacht, he saw the knife wielder and the unarmed one corner one of the guests who begged to keep her diamond necklace.

“No please.” the woman begged as her back hit the guardrail, her hand clutching the precious stone.

“Come on, you’ll have another one soon enough.” the unarmed woman said, “and you won’t have to steal for it.”

“Yeah, she’ll get it the old fash…” before the knife wielder could finish his sentence, one of his blades was knocked out of his hand by a batarang. “HEY!”

Batman wasn’t fazed by what the guy said, instead he continued gliding and picking up speed as he barreled into the man, hitting him with both fists before reopening his wings and using the momentum and updraft so soar near the control tower. As he turned back to observe the situation, a smirk found its way onto the crime fighters lips at the maneuver he’d accomplished. The smirk vanished as he felt someone grab his throat and throw him to the ground.

Regaining his sense, Batman saw the last member of the gang above him, ready to pound his fists into the bat. Instead, the Dark Knight quickly shot his legs up, kicking the larger man on the chin and sending him over the balcony to the deck below. He soon followed suit, gliding down and landing gracefully before he caught the tail end of the conversation between the crowned one and the one with the scepter, “I’m sorry my love but this is why I came back to Gotham.”

‘Great,’ Batman pieced everything together in his head as he charged, ‘those two are married, meaning the other two are probably their children. Also tiny over there,’ Batman hazard a quick glance at the still down giant, ‘felt way too solid to be human, probably an android.’ Those thoughts distracted the crime fighter just enough to allow the man to pull something out of a hidden compartment of his suit. Soon a large red cloth wrapped itself around Batman, immobilizing the crime fighter’s arms.

The man seized his chance, charging at Batman while singing his sword. Now thankful for all those hours VR training, Batman narrowly dodged the blade before launching himself over his opponent. As his legs caught on the side of the lifeboat, Batman quickly used the spikes on his forearms to cut the cloth. Seeing his opponent once more charge at him, Batman quickly landed on all fours before launching a double mule kick into the man’s chest.

Although he was feeling good about how the battle was going, the new Dark Knight made a rookie mistake and forgot one of the most important rules of solo hero work, keep an eye on all of your opponents. With the hero’s attention elsewhere, the scepter wielder charged her weapon before shooting the electronic beam into one of the yacht’s control panel. As multiple explosions rocked the boat, the woman asked, “My husband or all of these people Batman, who’s it going to be?”

The hero instantly made his choice when he stopped someone from falling over the side, the gang flying off in the confusion. As everyone was boarding a lifeboat, Bruce contacted his protégé. “Everything alright over there?”

“Yeah, except they got away.” Batman answered, bitter at the failure of what should have been an easy fight, especially after what happened with Inque.

“Get back to the cave, you need to know who you’re fighting.” Bruce ordered.

“Be there when I can,” Batman replied, “I’m already late for an appointment.”

* * *

One advantage of being Gotham City’s resident crime fighter was that Batman could travel throughout the city quickly, whether it be by the schway Batmobile (which was still in the process of being de-Inqued) or through a combination of the suit’s boot thrusters and built in grabbling line. After quickly making it across town, Batman disappeared into a dark alley and Terry walked out before rushing into the Juice Bar, a dance club where he was once again late for his date.

As the teen waded through the sea of dancing teenagers and twenty somethings, Terry tried to find his girlfriend while trying to hear himself think above the rock music. Finally after a few minutes, the boy found his date swinging her hips without a care in the world. Moving behind his girlfriend, Terry yelled over the music, “Dana, sorry I’m late I got stuck in…”

Quickly turning around, the teen interrupted Terry, “What are you apologizing for? It’s not like I was expecting you.”

That simply statement served to dumbfound the teenage crime fighter. “What? But…I….”

“How many times has it been now Terry?” Dana questioned as she started to walk away, “Eventually a girl gets the messaged.”

Terry quickly followed after Dana as he said, “No, wait please, you’ve got it all wrong.”

The teen just looked over her shoulder and asked, “Do I?” before walking further into the crowd, Terry following after trying to explain everything.

* * *

As Terry tried to save his failing relationship, neither he nor Dana were aware of the person looking into the club from the outside. As she sat on the bench and looked through the large window, the girl sighed. ‘I wonder how it feels,’ the teen thought to herself, ‘to stay in a city for more than a month, to actually have friends,’ again her eyes roamed the crowd, seeing all the smiling faces, ‘they all seem to enjoy it.’ Just as that thought left her head, the teen saw Dana and Terry walking through the crowd. ‘Looks like there’s trouble in paradise.’

* * *

Terry had finally gotten Dana to stop walking away from him, yet the girl continued to keep her back turned. “It’s not like I want to be late,” he pleaded, “it’s just that I have all these responsibilities.”

“Sure you do.” Dana quickly replied.

Slightly angry, Terry said, “Look maybe if you can’t get it, we should just forget the whole thing.”

“Oh Terry,” Dana placed a hand on his cheek before saying, “I’ve already forgotten.” and once more turned her back on the boy. Terry was about to reach out and grab her shoulder, but thought better of it and stomped out of the club. Feeling Terry’s presence disappear, Dana turned around in time to see the teen slip out the back exit. “Wow, I thought he’d try harder.” Dana commented to herself before setting off to find Chelsea, she didn’t feel like dancing anymore tonight.

As Terry was walking away from the Juice Bar, he heard a voice question, “Big fight?” Stopping in his tracks, the teen turned to see a girl around his age with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and a shot pink skirt. As the boy’s eyes examined the other teen, the girl said, “I was watching.” A little creeped out, Terry shrugged his shoulders before jerking his head to the side. The girl seemed to get the message and pushed herself away from the windows and started walking off, Terry following after. It maybe a little strange to walk after someone he hadn’t said a word to, but what else was the teen going to do with his night, spend it with his little brother?

As the pair walked underneath the monorail, Terry began lamenting his problems to his new acquaintance, “I’ve got this…after school job, it cuts into my free time a lot. Too much”

“Maybe you should ask your boss for more time off.” the girl suggested, causing Terry to laugh.

“Not this guy, you don’t ask him for time off.”

Genuinely curious the girl stopped to lean against a post and look at Terry, “So what kind of after school job is this anyway?”

“I do errands,” Terry finally said, “sort of, it’s kind of hard to describe.” he quickly finished before asking, “What about you? What were you doing out there, why didn’t you go in?” hoping to steer the conversation away from himself.

“Didn’t know anyone.” the girl confessed.

“New in town?”

“Constantly,” the girl replied before she began to walk off again, “my parent’s work causes my family to move a lot.”

“At least you get to see the world.” Terry offered, hoping to cheer up his newfound friend.

“Yeah, and lose all my friends.” the girl said as she looked down upon the traffic below. “Do you know what it’s like to be uprooted every few weeks without knowing what’s going to happen?”

Terry moved to stand beside her and said, “I’m beginning to get the idea.”

The girl gave a short laugh before sliding closer to Terry, “Two of a kind, that’s what we are. I’m Melanie, Melanie Walker.”

“Terry McGinnis” Melanie leaned a bit closer, and Terry was able to recognize a predatory gleam in her eyes before she struck. Faster than Terry could react, he found himself being pulled into a kiss.

After a few seconds, Terry managed to get Melanie’s lips off his own, to which the girl asked, “What’s wrong?”

In truth nothing was wrong, it wasn’t a bad kiss just different from what he experienced with Dana. Instead of saying that, Terry scratched his head as he said, “Nothing, just a little quick is all.”

The blond smiled as she leaned into Terry’s chest and stated, “With me it’s always been now or never.”

“You never considered later?” Terry joked, causing the girl to laugh.

“How much later?”

“I could see you tomorrow night.” Terry said, ‘Assuming those crazy cards don’t make a repeat performance.’

“That’s be great.”

“Where can I pick you up?” Terry asked, causing Melanie to frown slightly.

“Um…better not,” the girl soon regained her smile as she asked, “How about we just meet here, underneath the big clock at midnight?”

“I’ll be here.” Terry softly said before he was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek. The boy then watched as the girl slowly walked away, her head over her shoulder, neither breaking eye contact until she disappeared in the mist.

As he smiled to himself, Terry wondered aloud, “I guess things didn’t work out with Dana, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be happy with someone else, just can’t let the old man find out for a while.”

* * *

As Terry walked down the stairs into the Batcave, he wasn’t surprised to see Bruce sitting at the Batcomputer, his faithful dog Ace laying at his feet. As the teen bent down to scratch the Great Dane mix’s ears, he heard the old man say, “You’re late.”

Terry quickly fired back by saying, “Or early, it depends on how you look at it.”

“Dana again?” Bruce asked.

“No, that’s over now thanks to the job.” Terry replied, choosing not to mention Melanie

The old man quickly brushed the issue aside, “You’re teenagers, you’ll be back together soon enough. Right now we need to focus on stopping this gang.”

Believing in his abilities, and being somewhat naïve, Terry said, “They’re long gone by now, I gave them more than they expected.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Bruce began to lecture as he hit a few keys, causing an old aristocrat family portrait to appear on the monitor, “The Royal Flush gang has a long history. They’re a family of thieves that see themselves as above common criminals, they style themselves as crime royalty.”

“That’s a nice history lesson, but what does it have to do with the group that robbed the yacht?” Terry asked, not seeing the connection.

In response, Bruce hit a few more keys, causing multiple images to appear on the screen, Terry noted that in many instance a child would be pictured once only to be an adult in the next image. “Whenever one member retired or was jailed, the family would replace them with brothers, sisters, husbands or wives, it didn’t matter as long as there were five.”

“What about these groups?” Terry asked as he pointed to two groups of five that never appeared before, the only common member was a girl with short black hair wearing a long sleeved leotard with a club over her heart. The girl’s eyes seemed to pierce the boy’s soul.

“An irregularity, nothing you need to concern yourself with. Right now I want you either in the VR room or out on patrol while I try to figure out how to stop them.” Terry nodded and left with a “yes boss” as he headed out to get changed, but in the corner of his eye he saw the old man look at the girl’s photo with a mixture of emotions, sadness, pity, regret? Before the teen could ask any questions the elder Batman closed the images and began typing away as multiple scenes of information popped up.

Somehow Terry felt he was in for a long night, he just hoped he’d be able to make his date this time.

* * *

It took Melanie a couple of hours to get back to the pent house her family was currently living in. She loved her family, she did, but they could get on her nerves at times, all of them insisting on wearing such old fashion on pompous clothes, and she couldn’t even remember when any of them called her by her name instead of Ten.

Walking into the living room, she wasn’t surprised to see her father, King, knocking her brother, Jack, to the floor while her mother the Queen and their android Ace just stood nearby. ‘Father must still be upset about Batman,’ the girl thought before calling out when her father asked where she was.

“Good,” the man said before turning his attention back to the family, “we have heist to plan for, if everything goes well Batman won’t show up, but if he does we’ll be ready for him.” Although she didn’t like the gleam in her father’s eyes, the blond just nodded her head, hoping to be finished in time for her date and wondering what it would be like to have a normal family.

* * *

Dana was officially bored out of her mind. After leaving the club the teen came straight home, only to find the house to herself as her dad had some business trip. After catching up on her sleep, the teen was once more presented with the problem of what to do. As she mindlessly flipped through the channels on the halo-net, Dana stopped when an ad caught her eye.

The Gotham Museum of art was hosting a number of exhibits of art from around the world in all forms of media. While most of the works didn’t catch her attention, one piece did. The commercial barely gave it any screen time, but Dana became fascinated with the green cat sculpture. Instantly the teen recognized it as the Jade Gato, which while said to be magical didn’t matter so much as the fact was that it was chiseled from a single chunk of jade.

Slowly an idea formed in the girl’s head. She never really thanked Ms. Kyle for everything, did she? Sure she may have said it but gifts can express one’s feelings even more. Also it was in a museum, it wasn’t like the sculpture belonged to any single one person, and what idiot would have the actual thing on display in Gotham city? Even if someone did manage to find it in her boss’ possession, it could always be argued it was just a replica.

Her mind made up, Dana quickly grabbed the keys to her car, it was a bit of a drive to the Kyle estate, and then a long run to the museum, but she was sure she was going to have some fun.

* * *

The Royal Flush Gang had gathered on the roof of the northern wing of the Gotham Museum, right above the exhibit containing the antique medieval weapons. King stared down through the domed skylight, his eyes trained on the jeweled sword that was destined to be his prize. Turning away from the rest of the family, the patriarch walked over to where Ten was kneeling down, a panel of the roof torn up to allow her access to the alarm’s wiring. Stopping beside his daughter, King asked, “How is it going dear?”

After snipping another wire, the girl replied, “Just a few more wires and we should be good.”

King smiled at that before saying, “There’s no need to rush Ten, we have all the time in the world.”

As he father walked away, Ten brought her left arm up where a clock briefly displayed the time as 11:09. “Yeah right.” she said under her breath.

* * *

After a long run across Neo-Gotham’s rooftops, Catwoman finally made it to the roof of the southern wing of the museum. This may seem counter intuitive as a quick search on a public computer at the library revealed that the Jade Gato was displayed in a room in the Gotham Museum’s west wing near the main hall; but a quick look at the blue prints revealed that the southern wing had the least amount of security measures since most of the exhibits were permanent and included large artifacts that would be too heavy and cumbersome to move out of the building anywhere but the front doors. Furthermore, Catwoman could easily see a path through the vents that would lead her straight to her destination; thankfully she wasn’t claustrophobic as it was still a long crawl.

After removing the vent cover, the thief got ready to hack into the museum’s systems and shut down the ventilation, only to be surprised as she saw a number of systems begin failing. Maybe it was just a routine maintenance check, whatever the case Catwoman wasn’t about to complain as she shimmed into the tight fitting vents.

* * *

Now that the Batmobile was officially free of any remnants of a certain liquid based villainess, Batman used it to zoom across the city towards the Gotham Museum. As he looked at the internal clock, which read 11:10, the teen asked, “Are you sure about this?”

Back in the Batcave, Bruce began, “The Royal Flush Gang always steals items tied to playing cards, and the earliest European playing cards had swords, not spades.”

“So then why go after something that most people won’t recognize as their MO, aside from not being tied to the crime?” Terry asked.

“King’s trying to outsmart me,” Bruce said as he folded his hand in front of his head and watched the various police scanners on the Batcomputer, waiting to see if his hunch was correct, “I’m certain he was the last gang’s Jack, and now he want his revenge against Batman for breaking it up.”

“Great, now I’ve got to deal with another revenge obsessed villain, and how does the yacht robbery fit into all of this?”

“It was a yacht club.” was Bruce’s simple answer.

Terry physically winced at the horrible pun as he said, “Ouch,” before getting his head back in the game, “I’m about 15 minutes away from the museum, let me know if our friends decide to show up after hours, McGinnis out.”

After disconnecting the call, a ghost of a smile appeared on Bruce’s lips. As he bent over to scratch Ace’s ears, he commented, “The kid’s learning, might just make a Dark Knight out of him yet, won’t we boy?” In response the dog barked before slowly wagging his tail. The smile on the old man’s face quickly disappeared as he brought up a second window on the Batcomputer, displaying a series of police reports of seemingly unrelated robberies. As he leaned back in his chair, the Brue wondered aloud, “I’m fairly certain it’s the same timeline I got a glimpse of during that mission. Hopefully the changes I made were enough. I can't take hearing those screams a second time.”

* * *

After snipping another wire Ten stood up as she declared, “Okay, alarms off.”

“Are you sure?” King asked.

“I’m sure,” Ten repeated as she walked past her parents and towards the skylight, “now can we get this over with?” As the trio walked away, they were unaware that chance had just ruined their heist. Yes the wires were disconnected expertly, but the exposed copper inners had been laid in such a way that allowed a miniscule amount of electricity to travel along the conductive metal. It wasn’t something that could be ignored, and the wires would need replacing, but they would still allow the alarm to go off if tripped, at least for the remainder of the night.

Of course the Royal Flush Gang was unaware of this as they had Ace rip off the domed skylight, tripping a silent alarm and sending a signal to the Gotham Museum’s security forces and the Batcomputer. The Royal Flush Gang were blissfully unaware of this as the parents and children descended into the museum, Ace waiting up top just in case.

After landing on the floor, King stepped forward to admire the ornamental sword. “Ah, truly a blade meant for a king.”

Just as he was about to reach out and grab it, King and the rest of his family heard the clicks of multiple laser guns being primed to fire. Quickly turning around, King and the rest of his family found themselves surrounded by perhaps a half dozen men wearing grey security uniforms. As the thieves raised their hands, King glared slightly at his daughter and said, “All the time in the world.” causing Ten to look down in shame.

“Alright, we don’t want anything funny,” the lead guard said as the group advanced, “so everyone keep your hands raised and drop…”

Before he could say anything else, Ace decided to make an appearance, using his card to slam down on two of the guards. This proved to distract everyone else just long enough for Queen to charge her scepter, releasing a blinding flash that blinded three more men before the sensory info became too much and they passed out. As the rest of the guards where too distracted at the ease in which their comrades where incapacitated, the Royal Flush Gang took the opportunity to escape, but not before King grabbed the sword. Hopping back on their flying cards, the gang followed behind Ace as me mowed down more of the museum’s security, which had now begun to fire their laser pistols.

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity of crawling, Catwoman reached the Jade Gato exhibit. After opening a vent in the air duct, and being careful not to let the grate fall to the ground, the thief quickly surveyed the area, seeing the jade sculpture just sitting on a pedestal. Sensing it was too easy, the teen quickly ran through her helmet’s different vision settings before settling on infrared, and seeing a multilayered grid surrounding the work of art.

Sighing, Catwoman grabbed her lase whip and threw it around the air duct. Carefully the skilled thief began to shorten the laser’s length before getting in position. Becoming stalk straight and still, the teen slowly lengthened the whip, allowing her to narrowly slide through the openings of the grid. About halfway down she heard what sounded like laser shots, had someone else decided to rob the place? Although the extra chaos would be good to help cover her escape, that didn’t matter to Catwoman right now, she needed to focus.

* * *

Through a combination of skill and luck, the Royal Flush Gang had managed to make it to the main hall. As the group speed towards the front doors, it appeared as if they were about to make another successful heist, yet this proved not to be. The gang of crooks were unaware of Batman hanging on one of the pillars, launching his grappling line across the room to serve as an impromptu trip wire. The thieves only noticed this too late, each falling off their cards and taking a hard hit on the ground below, save Ten whose landing was somewhat cushioned by Ace. After gliding down to and seeing the gang slowly get up, Batman couldn’t resist the urge to banter, “You don’t look so royal now.”

It appeared the villains would have none of that as after a brief nod from King, Ace charged forward, trying to deliver a heavy hit to the crime fighter, which Batman easily ducked under. As the android turned on its heel in an attempt to backhand the hero, Batman delivered a jump kick to Ace’s chest, sending the faceless member of the gang crashing into a nearby pillar. Before Ace could fully recover, Batman launched a bolas around the android, taking him out of the fight.

As Batman took half a second to admire his work, Queen took advantage and quickly launched two electrical strike against the Dark Knight. After a short cry of pain, Batman fell to the floor, a grinning Queen and Jack walking towards the downed hero. As Batman attempted to get up, Jack gave a quick smile before kicking him in the ribs and launching the hero further down the hall. As he slid further down the hall, Batman caught a glimpse of a statue with a shield. Quickly forming an idea, Batman waited until Queen was about to launch another attack form her scepter before jumping into action. Quickly leaping up, the crime fighter grabbed the shield and redirected the electric attack at Jack, knocking the thief out. Seeing how she inadvertently harmed her son, Queen stopped the attack and looked toward Jack in concern. Batman capitalized on this and threw the shield into the woman, hitting her stomach and knocking the air out of her lungs, the force of the blow also launching the woman backwards, her head hitting the floor.

Throughout the course of the fight, King and Ten stood on the sidelines, observing everything. While Ten watched in concern for her fallen family members, King remained as stoic as ever. Once Queen was knocked down, the leader of the gang turned to the last remaining member and gave her a pointed look. Understanding the orders immediately, Ten rushed to engage Batman. As the two slowly circled each other, Ten hazard a glance at the time, ’11:32! I need to finish this quickly or else Terry will think I stood him up.’

With that though in mind, Ten quickly rushed at Batman, the hero ducking under her fist but was caught off guard by the following kick. Ten tried to keep the momentum of the fight in her favor, and launched a right hook at the crime fighter, only to have her fist caught. As he pulled down Ten’s hand, Batman got ready to deliver a quick jab only to find something in his head screaming at him not to do it. Ten didn’t have such a problem, and used Batman’s momentary distraction to launch a fist of her own right into the hero’s face. While the blow connected, Batman had enough sense to keep ahold of the girl. As he was falling backwards, the Dark Knight had an idea and ran with it, activating his suit’s thrusters and launching himself and Ten into the next exhibit over.

By now both Queen and Jack had regained their senses and where about to run off to help Ten, however neither were aware of another person. Hearing a gun being cocked, the group turned to see another security guard, this one older and possibly a few days from retirement, had his laser pistol trained on the group. “Alright everyone hands up.” Instead of following the man’s commands, King just smiled as he saw Ace breaking the bolas that had previously kept him captive before walking up behind the man.

* * *

Catwoman was so close to success that she could practically taste it. After what seemed like hours, the thief had slowly made her way down and was looking directly at her prize. Carefully bending one leg to act as a counter balance, Catwoman reached through the laser grid, her fingertips millimeters from the Jade Gato. As she was about to claim her reward, the thief was unprepared as she felt something smash into her. Losing her grip on her whip, Catwoman and whatever had knocked her down fell to the floor, knocking into the pedestal the sculpture had been rest on and sending the piece tumbling down. Seeing the priceless work of art about to hit the ground, Catwoman reacted quickly and dove forward, her arm outstretched, the Jade Gato just barely landing in her palm, safe from harm. Only then did the thief turn her head to see who nearly ruined her payday, only to be surprised when she saw Batman holding Ten in one arm with a headlock while a batarang appeared in his empty palm.

“Great, as if I didn’t have enough to deal with tonight,” Batman began as he gave the thief a quick once over, “who are you suppose to be anyway?”

Hoping to stall while she thought of an escape plane, Catwoman said, “You’re a detective, I’m sure you can figure it out.” After hearing an angry grunt from the crime fighter, Catwoman said, “Fine, I’ll give you a hint. As someone once told me, ‘for every Bat there must be a Cat.”

Before Batman could respond, someone clearing their throat grabbed everyone’s attention. Standing at the exhibit’s entrance was King, Jack behind him holding onto the guard with a knife at his throat. “It appears we’ve been dealt a wild card,” the patriarch of the criminal family said, “If you value his wealth fair, you will not follow.”

Understanding immediately, Batman released Ten before nodding over to the still laying down Catwoman, “And her?”

As Ten rejoined her family, King shrugged his shoulder and stated, “She’s not one of ours, do with her what you want.” before leaving.

After the Royal Flush Gang had left, Batman turned to Catwoman with a glare. The thief quickly assessed her options. While she did have some combat training, she knew there wasn’t a chance she could go toe to toe with Batman, at least right now. That left one option, trying to talk her way out. As the Dark Knight stalked towards her, Catwoman quickly got up, and grabbed her whip. As both combatants settled into their stances, Batman was shocked when Catwoman retracted her laser whip and put it away before standing straight. “Look,” the thief began, “it’s pretty obvious that you’d rather be chasing after those people and fighting me would take too much time, not to mention I don’t want to fight.” Catwoman then carefully placed the Jade Gato back on the pedestal before walking away and holding her hands up, “See no harm no done, I’ll just be on my way.”

As Catwoman was about to pass by Batman, she was unprepared when he grabbed her forearm. As the crime fighter dragged her away, Catwoman thought that she’d lost her gamble and was preparing to fight back only to be shoved away. As the thief tried to make sense of what was happening, she caught sight of Batman once more glaring at her. “This is the one chance I’m giving you, get out of my city and don’t let me catch you stealing again.” the Dark Knight declared before engaging his suit’s thrusters and flying off into the night, Catwoman only now realizing she was outside.

‘Well better get out of here before the cops show.’ the teenage thief mussed to herself as she began jumping from rooftop to rooftop, the adrenaline from the near fight still coursing through her system. ‘The big bad Bat only said not to steal, he didn’t say I couldn’t do some running.’

* * *

A distance from the Gotham Museum, the Royal Flush Gang were speeding through the night sky, Jack still having a hold on his hostage. “Well look at that, clean getaway!” the knife user declared from the back of the group.

King turn around and was about to agree with his son, only to see a black speck on the horizon, and getting closer. In a few moments, King was able to see that Batman was indeed following them with his suit’s thrusters, probably thinking it would take too long to call the Batmobile. Turning to Jack, King stated, “Not yet, drop him.”

Both Jack and Ten where shocked at what their father had said, the former asking “What?” to make sure he’d heard right while Ten flew in front of her father. “You can’t do that.” the teen began, “We’re thieves, not murderers.”

King scoffed before saying, “Of course I can, we can and will do anything to take what we want.” The man then turned his gaze back to his son and asked, “Did I stutter? Drop him?”

Not wanting to be on the receiving end of his father’s wrath, Jack shrugged his shoulders before pushing the guard off his card while thinking, ‘Sorry gramps, but better you than me.’

Batman saw all of this and as the guard screamed while he fell through the Neo-Gotham night sky, the Dark Knight quickly made a choice. Folding away his wings, Batman angled his body downward in an attempt to intercept the falling man. The guard seemed to recognize what the hero was trying to do and, while screaming, spread his limbs outward in an attempt to slow his airspeed. Thankfully Batman was able to latch onto the man, but was traveling too fast to avoid the skylight they were falling towards. Luckily the two had enough time for Batman to swing the man behind him, the Dark Knight taking most of the impact as the glass shattered.

The Royal Flush Gang had stopped momentarily to observe all of this. Once Batman and the guard had disappeared into the building, the gang set off once more, this time free of any pursuers. As Ten began flying away, she turned around only to find her father’s sword at her throat. “Don’t every argue with me again.” King commanded in a low voice. Ten nodded her head before meekly following after her family, a lot on her mind.

* * *

After Batman and the guard crashed through the skylight, they fell another 50 feet before landing on the floor, hard. Once more Batman had taken the majority of the impact. As he groaned, he asked the guard, “Are you okay?”

The man bit back a scream as he said, “My leg, I clipped it on the way down.”

“Come on,” Batman declared as he helped the man up and supported his weight, “I’ll get you to a hospital.”

As the pair walked towards the exit, Batman noted the time displayed on a large clock. ’12:32, well isn’t this relationship off to a good start?’ the crime fighter thought bitterly as it began to rain outside.

* * *

Despite the slick ground from the rain, Terry ran as fast as he could, yet it seemed that fate was conspiring against the teen. When he finally arrived at the clock tower out of breath, he saw it was 12:45 and no one was around. A quick look of the surrounding streets revealed that the boy was indeed the only one out. As he slowly walked away, Terry paused just long enough to punch a light post. ‘The one chance that I had with this girl and I blow it. Why does being Batman always ruin my life?’

As he was preparing to walk back home, the teen heard someone running in the puddles. Turning around, Terry couldn’t contain his smile when he saw Melanie rushing towards him, nor could she contain hers when she saw the boy. The two ran to each other and, like something out of a cheesy romantic vid-film, Terry grabbed her and spun her around, each laughing and smiling before sharing a kiss, happy they were able to make the date, even if it was late.

* * *

Catwoman was frustrated. The whole point of coming out tonight was to get an easy score and to get her mind off her relationship troubles. Instead she’d effectively announced her existence to Batman, making any future heist all the more complicated. She wanted less stress, not more! After release a scream of rage, only then did Catwoman bother to look at where she ended up. Recognizing the rundown buildings, the thief was amazed to discover that she’d somehow ended up in Old Gotham, and right by the old clock tower to. Deciding to at least accomplish something tonight, Catwoman made her way to the old clock tower, after all how many could claim they’ve been inside it?

It was easy to get into the old wooden and stone structure as the front door’s lock had long been broken, thankfully no one decided to squat in the abandoned building, one less head ache for the cat-themed thief to worry about. Not trusting the stairs, Catwoman used her claws and whip on the rusted metal components of the clock tower to quickly scurry upwards, she was soon looking at the remnants of Old Gotham through one of the clock faces. As she tried to imagine what the skyline looked like back in the old city’s hay day, the suit’s internal comlink began ringing. Although fearful she’d been caught by her boss, Catwoman relaxed when she saw it was just a call from her cellphone, a useful feature of the suit when her father called late.

Quickly answering the call, Catwoman said, “Hey Max, how’s the college tour going? I still don’t know why you’re over there, we both know you aren’t going to that school.”

“Hey, if the college wants to fly me and my mom first class to look at their campus, who am I to say no, especially if the campus is in Hawaii?” The girl on the other end of the line said.

“So how’s paradise treating you?” Catwoman asked, thankful for the distraction.

“Pretty good, my mom got to relax on the beach while I was taking the tour, and I’ll be getting a non-parent approved tour later tonight when she’s asleep.” Max answered before asking, “Hey are you with Terry? I’ve been trying to call him for the past few days but keep missing him.”

“Actually, we broke up.”

“Really?” the shock in Max’s voice was clear. “What happened? He cheat on you or something?”

“No, it’s just he kept running off for his job. It felt like I was never able to see him. I have practically the same type of job he does, but I could make it work, so why couldn’t he? Eventually I just got tired of it and called it quits.” Catwoman explained.

The line was silent for a few moments before Max asked, “Do you realize how much of a bitch you’re being?”

“Excuse me?!?”

“Look, I’m not saying his job is more demanding,” Max began, “but you’ve also got to consider who he’s working for. He may be retired, but Mr. Wayne still has a lot of influence within Wayne-Powers board of directors, and with everything Derek Powers is doing to the company I wouldn’t be surprised if the old man is gearing up to try and take back control. I’d say the prep work for that is a little more difficult than trying to schedule meetings and remember coffee orders.” Catwoman was about to admit that her friend had a point, but Max kept going, “And let’s not forget the job’s not only for himself, but for his family. The one time I was able to talk to him, Terry told me that Mr. Wayne told him that if he could work for Wayne at least five years he’d give Matt a full ride to any university that he wants. So knowing that, does breaking up with Terry over missing a few dates still seem like a good idea?” Max questioned.

Catwoman was floored by this, “Yeah, I guess you’re right, I was being a bit of a bitch.” As she said this the thief leaned against one of the giant gears that slightly hung over the guard rail, however while the gear was still solid, its wooden spoke wasn’t. Years of disuse and termites took their toll, and the little bit of extra weight cause the wood to break, sending the gear tumbling down, making a great noise as it went.

Up on the walkway, Catwoman just stared down at the wreckage she had caused, luckily the building remained in tack. Meanwhile Max had heard the commotion over the phone and asked, “Hey what happened? Are you okay?”

“Yeah Max, I’m fine. I just accidently caused some boxes to fall.” Catwoman quickly lied before her eyes stumbled upon a secret compartment in the stone wall that the gear had previously been hiding. “Hey Max I’ll think about what you said, but right now I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later.” The thief didn’t give her friend a chance to respond before hanging up and moving to examine the secret compartment. It wasn’t much, just maybe a hole measuring a foot square that had been carved into the stone years after the tower had been made, but why go through the effort of making it? Her curiosity peaked, Catwoman reached into the hole, going perhaps elbow deep before she felt something. Grasping the object and pulling her arm out, the thief’s eyes widened at what she now held.

‘An emerald! Why would that be there?’ The thief then remembered a small footnote from her history textbook and reached back into the hole with her free hand, coming back out with another emerald. “Well tonight wasn’t so bad, and I’m sure the boss lady will like these.”

* * *

After spending the night with Melanie, Terry found himself once more in the Batcave. Instead of saying hello, Bruce said, “You’re late again, this is becoming a habit McGinnis.”

“Relax, I’m here aren’t I?” Terry asked as he walked toward the suit diagnostic system, the left thruster kept sticking.

“Good, then you can help me figure out where the Royal Flush Gang are going to strike next and how to stop them.” Bruce declared.

“You sure it’s going to be tonight?” Terry asked.

“You’ve got something better to do?”

“Yeah, I do.” Terry said with a hint of malice.

Rubbing his eyes, Bruce said, “This is getting tiresome.”

“Look,” Terry began as he walked towards the old man, “if you had any proof that it would be tonight then I’d be out in the field, no questions asked. I’m not going to change my plans off a hunch.”

Bruce swiveled the chair to face the teen before simply saying, “Batman would.”

“I’m out there every day, risking my life. One night is not going to make a difference!” Terry quickly reasoned.

Terry was unprepared when Bruce suddenly stood up and grabbed the front of his shirt. Never before had Terry seen the old man glare as hard as he did when he declared, “One night always makes a difference!”

Despite the fear he felt, Terry kept calm as he said, “I know what this is, you can’t stand to see anyone else have a life, you want me to end up alone, like you.” Terry didn’t give Bruce a chance to respond before shrugging out of his grip and running out of the Batcave.

The old man watched the teen run away, before quickly turning around and slamming his fist down on a nearby table while releasing a yell of rage. Hearing the commotion, and worried about his master’s safety, Ace quickly ran down the stairs and stood beside Bruce, licking his hand to assure the old man someone was there for him. Slowly Bruce was able to regain his breath. As he scratched Ace’s ears, the old man asked, “That kid would never survive back in my Gotham. Why can’t he see that I want him to have a better life than I had, to actually have someone to share it with? But if he keeps going off half-cocked like this he’s going to make a mistake.” Sighing once more, the old man walked back to the super computer and began typing, Ace following close behind and laying at his master’s feet. “I’ll talk to the boy about this later, right now I’ve got work to do.”

* * *

Meanwhile across town, Melanie was having a similar conversation with her father, who was currently yelling at her in front of the rest of the family for last night’s sloppy job and for disappearing after the family got home. “How many times do I have to say it, we do not make mistakes. You have got to keep focused!”

Tired of hearing it, Melanie fired back by saying, “You haven’t. Your quest to get revenge on Batman is making us take dumb risks. If we keep doing this you’re going to get us nailed.”

King’s fists were shaking as he spoke through gritted teeth, “No one disrespects me or this family, at least not for long. If you can’t get behind that then you should leave.”

“Then I’m gone.” Melanie declared as she stood up from the table and past her flabbergasted father who hadn’t expected her to call his bluff.

As the teen waited by the elevator, she heard her mom yell “Ten” a few times before saying, “Melanie,” shocked at hearing her actual name, the teen turned around as her mother said, “this family has taken good care of us and will always be here, why would you want to throw that away?” the woman softly asked.

Hearing actual concern, Melanie hesitated to answer before saying, “A boy.”

Scoffing at the answer, Queen sarcastically asked, “Is that it, love? Great.”

“It is,” Melanie was quick to defend Terry.

“Honey, men come and go, most more trouble than they’re worth, and the few that are worth it would require to many sacrifices on your part,” slowly Queen moved to stand in front of her daughter, resting a hand on her shoulder as the elevator doors opened.

“You don’t know this one.” Melanie weakly said, all her willpower to leave slowly fading.

“You didn’t see fit to introduce us,” Queen quickly replied, “he isn’t right for this family, he isn’t right for you. Please my dear, be patient, someday your king will arrive, and when he does you’ll have all the wealth, love, and freedom you could ever want. But only if you stay with this family.” What her mother had said gave Melanie a lot to think about. Slowly she walked towards her room as the elevator closed, she needed to get ready for tonight.

* * *

Terry sat in the park where he’d last seen Melanie. As he started to wonder whether being late was a habit of hers he’d need to get use to, his cellphone rang. Although he didn’t recognize the number, the teen still answered, “Hello?”

“Terry,” Melanie began before pausing for a moment, “I can’t see you tonight.”

Confused, the teen asked, “Did something come up, school work?”

“No, nothing came up.” Melanie confessed, “I just can’t see you again. It just didn’t work out, I’m sorry.”

“Melanie,” Terry began, now having a hunch and his voice gaining a slight edge, “there’s something wrong, isn’t there?”

Melanie desperately wanted to tell Terry the truth, but after quickly remembering what her mother said the girl replied, “Nothing is wrong Terry, goodbye.” The girl than quickly hung up, knowing that her resolve to stay with her family was weakening every second she was talking to him.

After the short conversation, Terry stared at his phone, lost in thought. ‘Well that certainly was nice. I wonder what ever happened to being two of a kind….’Realization hit the boy quickly, ‘One of the first things she told me was a card pun, not to mention she was late as well. I’m really hope I’m wrong about this.’ After quickly rushing to a GCPD call box, Terry took out the special remote access card Bruce had given him. After the system had booted up, Terry connected his cellphone before typing in commands to trace the call, then ordering the computer to cross reference the address, which ended up being a large suit in the Hotel Robbins. After quickly memorizing the floor plan, Terry began rushing off, sending quick message to the Batcomputer, informing Bruce of his hunch and to tell Commissioner Gordon to have a few plain clothes officers nearby to call it in if he was right. With everything set in place, all that was left to do was find a place to change.

* * *

Even without the Batmobile it was a short flight and an easy entry into the suit. Batman had to start questioning how arrogant these thieves were, leaving the glass patio doors unlocked. The room the Dark Knight found himself in was spacious, and the furniture expensive. Venturing further inward, the crime fighter soon found a briefcase on the table, which he quickly opened to reveal a number of gold coins and precious jewels, a single Ace of Spades resting on top of the pile. Unable to stop himself, Batman said, “No” after looking at the pile, his suspicions confirmed. Picking up the card to further examine it, the crime fighter was taken aback as the card began to crackle. Quickly recognizing what was about to happen, Batman dropped the card and dove as far away as possible, seconds before a huge explosion rocked the room. ‘Well surprise is gone, guess it’s time to set up an ambush.’

* * *

The Royal Flush Gang arrived back at the pent house soon after Batman’s arrival, each member carrying a sack of stolen credits, freshly printed at the Gotham Mint, located on Diamond avenue.

“We did it!” Jack declared as the family landed on the floor. Reaching into his bag, the young man pulled out a handful of credits before throwing them in the air as he said, “Credits, plastic gold, we’re rich, well richer!” A few stray credits bounced off Ten’s head, but the girl didn’t notice, too busy feeling hollow inside after the heist.

Queen snuggled up to her husband as she lightly tapped a credit against his chest, “Now I can actually buy some of my jewels.” As she looked up, the woman recognized the look on her husband’s face. “What’s wrong, you look disappointed.”

“No Batman,” Kind simply declared as he reached under his costume’s sleeve, “and I had a card just for him.” The man declared as he showed his wife his secret weapon, a black card with a crude white skull.

Any other conversation stopped when Jack once more spoke up. Seeing the open case of jewels and the card shaped scorch mark in the carpet, the thief yelled, “Hey! We’ve had a visitor!”

“Batman!” King quickly concluded before ordering, “Spread out and find him.” He then caught sight of Ten starting to walk away before he ordered the girl, “Not you, you stay with me.”

* * *

One of Bruce’s favorite things to say to Terry when he was training was to fight smarter and harder. Despite their disagreements, this was one piece of advice Terry took to heart. Batman already knew that together the Royal Flush Gang had a decent chance of taking him out, but apart was a different story. And so Batman quickly found the biggest bedroom on the floor plan and laid in wait, wonder whether he’d take out King or Queen first. After a few minutes the door opened and Queen cautiously walked into the room. Batman only smirked as she heard the beeping coming from the trap box he’d left behind. After finding the small gadget, Queen’s curiosity got the better of her and she picked it up, only to be rewarded with a blast of sleeping gas. Batman quickly rushed out of the shadows and caught the woman before she fell to the ground, not wanting the thud to alert her family. After placing the knocked out thief on her bed, the crime fighter engaged the stealth mode of his suit and opened the door into the hallway, surprised when he felt something heavy hit the door. Looking around, the Dark Knight found Jack sprawled on the ground, knocked unconscious. ‘Well that was unexpected, but not unwelcome.’ Batman thought as he disengaged the cloaking technology, only to be sent back into the room by a heavy hit from Ace.

After smashing into a cabinet, Batman quickly got back up and rushed the android landing a series of punches and kicks. However none of this effected Ace as it simple picked Batman up and threw him through a wall into the next hallway over. The android didn’t give the hero time to recover and was soon once more standing over Batman before picking him up and throwing him further down the hall. As Batman tried to get up, Ace once more rushed him, hitting the hero three times before holding him by his throat. As Batman tried to think of a plan, he noticed the laundry shoot at the other end of the hallway. Quickly the idea came to Batman, who gritted his teeth in determination. Placing his feet on Ace’s chest, Batman activated his thrusters, sending the android stumbling back, becoming stuck in the laundry shoot. Before Ace had a chance to free itself, Batman began running forward before leaping and activity his thrusters to land a flying hit, knocking Ace down into the laundry shoot. Not satisfied, Batman withdrew a small timed explosive from his utility belt and tossed it down, the explosion resulting in a large column of fire blasting down the laundry shoot, finally knocking the android offline.

With three down, Batman grew bolder and began to openly stalk the final members of the family. Arriving back in the main living room, the Dark Knight saw a flicker of movement and drew a batarang and was ready to throw it until he saw Ten. He knew what she’d done was wrong, but somehow knowing who was behind the mask was enough to make Batman freeze. However this proved to be a trap as Ten quickly ran away before King appeared from behind the pillar, throwing his secret weapon. Luckily the card detonated before it made contact with the hero, but the force of the blast still pushed Batman out the window. After freefalling for a few seconds, Batman quickly opened his wings, just in time to see King riding down on his card, the villain’s sword drawn.

“I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me.” King gloated as he flew by, swinging his sword to cut off one of the wings. Not panicking, Batman quickly reordinated himself before stowing his remain wing and launching one of the suits grapple lines, straight into King’s card. The thief felt the added weight, and looked behind him to see the hitchhiking hero. As he raised his sword to cut the line, King failed to realize where he was going, resulting in him and Batman crashing onto a nearby roof, the flying card being destroyed. As the two quickly got back to their feet, they saw Ten flying nearby. “Ten, come get me!” King ordered as the roof’s door was opened by two Neo-Gotham police officers.

When the girl hesitated, Batman quietly pleaded, “Don’t do it, just go.”

Ten stayed in the air for a few moments, trying to make a decision. Finally she made her choice and flew towards her father. The police officers saw this, one grabbing his laser rifle and firing off a single round, hitting Ten’s card. Time seemed to freeze as the card shattered and Ten hung in the air, seemingly defying gravity. However, time and gravity soon resumed their normal functions and Ten began falling to the streets below, screaming all the way. Batman quickly leaped into action, jumping off the roof and launching a grapple line. At the lowest point of his swing, the Dark Knight was able to catch the other teen as they both continued forward, landing on the ledge of the clock tower.

As a number of police cruisers arrived on the scene, Ten looked up to her rescuer and asked, “I don’t suppose I could convince you to let me go?” When she receive silence, the girl closed her eyes and looked down, accepting her fate.

* * *

Soon the entirety of the Royal Flush Gang were on ground level, clad in heavy cuffs and waiting for a cruiser to arrive and take them for booking. As a crowd gathered around to watch what all the fuss was about, Melanie, still dressed in her Ten uniform, scanned the crowd and saw a familiar face in one of the allies before putting her head back down, knowing she made the wrong choice. Her self-pity was soon broken when she heard her brother scuffling with one of the cops as they tore off his mask. Being last in line, the teen expected the same to happen to her but was instead asked, “How old are you?”

“17.” The girl answered, not seeing the point.

The officer nodded before turning back to address another man, “The mask stays on this one for now, she’s a minor.” Before Melanie could question the importance the statement, the police cruiser arrived and her family were roughly shoved inside.

* * *

Terry watched everything play out from his position in the ally. As he saw the cruiser fly off, the boy felt someone walking behind him. Already knowing who it was, the teen said, “Mr. Wayne, the things I said, I’m sorry.” Terry turned to look at his mentor, not surprised to see the ever present frown. Not knowing where the thought came from, Terry asked “Did this sort of thing ever happen to you?”

Surprisingly, the old man soon had a small smile as he said, “Let me tell you about a woman named Selina Kyle.” Before the old man could continue his story, a loud beeping from Terry’s jacket interrupted him. Terry quickly took out his cellphone and glanced at the text message before putting it away.

Sensing the question, the teen said, “It’s just Dana, saying she want to meet up and talk.”

Bruce shook his head, wondering if he was ever that ignorant. “Go McGinnis,” he ordered, when Terry didn’t budge, Bruce said, “learn from an old man’s mistakes, I’ve wasted plenty of second chances to know when you should take one.”

Terry quickly nodded, before he walked away, calling over his shoulder, “You know it’s funny, Dana says her boss is a Ms. Kyle. Could be her and your old flame are related, a niece maybe?”

Bruce didn’t respond, only watching his protégé walk away. Shaking his head, the old man still had a smile as he said, “You’re getting there kid, but you’ve still got a lot to learn. I just hope you aren’t too shocked when you learn what I know.”

* * *

After arriving at the police station, Melanie had been walked past a number of reporters, all trying to get pictures of her. Once inside the building, she’d quickly been separated from her family, her mother, father, and brother all going to different sections of the holding facilities. As for Ace, she saw a few officers power down the android before dragging him into the evidence locker. Once she was lead to a small room containing only two chairs and a table, she was uncuffed and instructed to sit down, remove her mask, and wait. Not having much choice, Melanie complied.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably only 30 minutes, the door opened to reveal a bald African-American man with a thick mustache wearing a blue shirt with a matching blue coat, a thick file folder in his hand. “Miss Walker I presume?” When the girl nodded, the man took the only open seat before introducing himself, “I’m DA Sam Young. I’ve been looking over your case and I must say, I’m impressed.” The man made a show of opening the file and leafing through its contents, “Breaking and entering, theft, robbery, and accessory to armed robbery, all before you turned 18.” The man than looked away from the file and straight into Melanie’s eyes as he said, “But what interests me the most is that you never carried any form of weapon during your ‘family outings,’ nor did you ever attack anyone who did not present a danger to your immediate safety.”

Not seeing the point in all of this, Melanie asked, “And that interests you how?”

The man smiled before he leaned back in his chair and said, “Because it shows me and a lot of other people that you were never much of an active participant in these activates, with the right lawyer a case could be made that you were forced to commit these crimes against your will.” Before Melanie could tell the man that she had done everything willingly, he suddenly changed topics. “Tell me Miss Walker, what do you know of Gotham’s history?”

“Seeing as how I got her a week ago, not much.” the girl answered truthfully.

“Then allow me to give you a quick lesson.” Sam began, “Back in Gotham’s heyday there was a cat burglar who liked to dress up and steal certain items. Now for legal purposes I can’t tell you her name or what she called herself, but eventually Batman captured her. While she lost in the court of law, the court of public opinion differed and the judge was forced to set her free, provided she didn’t dress up again for her own personal gain. The DA would like to offer you a similar deal.” Sam paused long enough to pull a paper out from the bottom of the file and a pen from his inner coat pocket. “This is a statement stating that you were raised with the expectation of joining your family’s gang and you didn’t want to displease your parents, it further states that you have no desire to continue a criminal career. If you sign this, we will drop all charges against you and set you up with a modest apartment and stipend, provided you attend high school, check in with a probation officer, and get at least a part time job.”

As tempting as it was to sign straight away, Melanie had one final question, “And what about the rest of my family?”

Sam didn’t even pause as he said, “Your android is going in the evidence locker, the case against the your parents is solid. Your brother we have a little bit less on, but we still feel confident in pressing charges with him.”

Upon hearing this Melanie realized she was once more presented with the choice of her family or her own freedom. She wouldn’t make the wrong choice this time.

* * *

Dana had never been more thankful to be in school. Sunday had been stressful. After having a long talk with Terry in the morning, ending in both of them agreeing that they enjoyed their relationship and were willing to work on it and be more understanding, she had been stuck with her dad at home. Thankfully she was able to hide the suit and the emeralds in the back of her closet, the one place her father never dared to look when she was home.

Monday was a different story. As she had “work” after school, Dana’s father would get home earlier and would have no qualms about going through her personal belongings, citing it was every parents right and duty to ensure their children were not engaging in any “dangerous” activates. Due to this invasion of privacy, Dana was forced to hide the jewels in her purse, which was safely locked away in her locker, while her suit was crammed into the bottom of her backpack.

So far the day was rushing by as Dana had been selected to give a tour of the campus to the new transfer student, something that was normally Max’s duty, which had occupied most of the morning. As she paused by the stairs leading back down the school’s first level, the teen turned back to her charged and asked, “So how do you like it here so far Melanie?”

Said girl only smiled as she said, “It seems nice, however it’ll definitely be a change of pace, I’ve only ever been home schooled before.”

“Well I’m sure there are some definite advantages to that,” Dana said before the lunch bell ran, “such as not dealing with this stampede.”

As the two girls stood still and waited for the rush to past by them, a voice called out “Dana!” Said girl turned and smiled as she saw her boyfriend walk towards her. Melanie turned to follow her guide’s gaze, only for her eyes to widen as she saw who was approaching. When the boy got closure, she was unable to stop herself from saying, “Terry?”

“Melanie?” the boy responded.

Dana quickly looked between the two teens before asking, “You two know each other?”

Terry nodded before looking towards his feet, a habit Dana knew meant she was going to be upset with his answer. “We meet after you and I had that fight at the Juice Bar.”

“I see,” Dana replied with a strained voice, “and what all did you do?”

“We kissed a few times.” Melanie admitted, not recognizing what the problem was.

Dana suddenly turned on her boyfriend, “I can’t believe you Terry McGinnis! The night we break up and you decide to go after the first pretty face you find?” The verbal beat down continued in this fashion, with many students pausing to catch a quick glimpse of the fight. In the course of her tongue lashing, Dana’s backpack had slid down her arm, the zipper getting caught on one of the stair’s railings. As she threw her hand’s up to emphasize a point, Dana suddenly heard a zipping sound. Quickly turning her head, the teen saw one of her text books sliding out of her now damaged bag, the hole just giving a glimpse of the Catwoman suit hidden inside. If the bag continued its present course, Terry would find out about her secret. But that wasn’t the biggest issue, right now what worried Dana was the fact that Melanie had an unobstructed view into her bag, a look of instant recognition on her face.

As Dana started plotting possible escape routes and excuses for why she has the suit, the unexpected happened, Melanie Walker fell down the stairs. Instantly the lovers’ spat was forgotten as everyone, Terry and Dana included, rushed over to see if the new student was okay. “I’m fine,” Melanie assured the crowd as she got to her feet, wincing a little. By now the excitement had died down and everyone decided food was more important than gossip and started heading back to the cafeteria, Terry included.

After collecting her fallen text book, Dana turned her attention back Melanie and started walking her to the nurse’s office, better safe than sorry. When she was sure they were alone, Dana asked, “Why did you help me? You saw inside my bag so you know about my afterschool activates, are you going to blackmail me or something?”

As if the day already didn’t have enough surprises, Melanie shook her head no before saying, “This isn’t actually the first time we meet. We ran into each other at the museum over the weekend.” It was now Dana’s turn to be shocked, but before she could ask anything, Melanie changed the subject, “So Terry’s your boyfriend.”

“Yeah,” Dana said, somewhat thankful for the change in conversation, “I broke up with him briefly over the weekend over a stupid reason,” She then looked at the girl and said, “but if you and him were…”

Melanie choose to interrupt Dana before she could finish, “Whatever we had kind of ended on Sunday. Don’t worry, he’s yours.” She then meet Dana’s gaze as she stated, “Terry’s a great guy, and I’m sure a lot of other girls realize that and won’t hesitate to go after him if you call it quits again.”

Dana had a small smile as she answered her fellow thief, “Believe me, I don’t intend to give them a chance.”

* * *

After the excitement before lunch, school once more passed by quickly. As Dana drove towards the Kyle estate for her job, she was somewhat fearful of what her mentor would say. As expected, the teen didn’t get five steps in the door before a furious Selina descended on her. “I can’t believe you were so stupid! Going out when I wasn’t here to back you up, do you want to get caught?”

After taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Dana said, “I know what I did was stupid, but I desperately needed some stress relief. I wasn’t planning on stealing anything, I just needed the run, but I did find these.” With little show, Dana opened her purse and pulled out the two identical emeralds, Selina’s eyes widening at the sight of them.

Her voice shaking slightly, the older woman asked, “Are those the…” but was unable to finish the question, too shocked at what she was seeing.

Smiling, Dana replied, “The Cat’s Eyes Emeralds, why yes they are.”

“But they’ve been lost for decades.”

“I know,” Dana stated, “but apparently that old tale of Frankie something-or-other hiding them in Gotham’s old clock tower was true, people just didn’t look hard enough.” The teen then placed the jewels in the older woman’s hands, “And now they’re yours, think of it as my way of saying thanks for everything, and if anyone asks about them you can just say they’re replicas you had commissioned.”

By now Selina had recovered, her cat like grin on her face, “You really don’t know how long I’ve been trying to find these.” A thought suddenly occurred to her and she asked her protégé, “What were you doing in Old Gotham anyway?”

Once more nervous, Dana quickly answered, “Well, the emeralds weren’t what I was going after first. I was trying to nap the Jade Gato, but Batman stumbled upon me.” Selina’s eyes once more widened, this time in fear. “Luckily for me the Royal Flush Gang was robbing the place at the same time and Batman judged their situation more urgent and let me go, after I put the sculpture back.”

Selina sighed in relief as she asked, “Do you know how lucky you were that night?”

“I’m getting an idea,” Dana admitted before asking, “With Batman knowing about me, things are going to get a lot more difficult, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are,” Selina answered honestly before adding, “but it also makes them just as more fun.”

* * *

And done with 25 pages.

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. As you can tell, Melanie is going to have a much more expanded role in the story than she did in the original series, feel free to think of her as Dana’s equivalent of Max, occasionally helping out and providing excuses for Dana.

So a lot happened in this chapter, we saw how Terry and Dana’s relationship could fluctuate and how while Bruce maybe hard on Terry he just wants the teen to be ready for the challenges ahead. We also got a few hints of what’s to come, yet there are still questions such as…

What timeline is Bruce referring to?

What exactly does Bruce know?

What will Batman do if he encounters Catwoman again?

The answers to all these questions and more will be answered in future chapters, but until then here’s acw28 saying, “Until next update.”


	3. From the Past

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Beyond or any other DCAU shows.

* * *

As she chased after the hover limo, Catwoman couldn’t help but hope that her boss would eventually outfit her with an actual vehicle. As the car came to a stop, the thief did as well to catch her breath. Activating her com-link, the young woman said, “Remind me again why I’m chasing after this guy.”

“Because he’s a mid-level henchmen in the Yakuza,” Selina easily replied, “who is going to lead you straight to his boss.”

“Right, because the remnants of the Falcone family and Commissioner Gordon are putting pressure on them so they decided to grab what they could and skip town.” Catwoman finished. “Well I suppose I could help them out by relieving them of a few credits, but what’s to stop Batman or the NGPD from showing up? I may be getting better in the combat simulators but I still don’t think I can handle the Bat.”

“Why is it one of the most important lessons I try to teach you never learn?” Selina scolded her protégé. “Timing is everything. Batman is battling some random Metahuman on the other side of town while the cops are on crowd control, as long as no one shows up we should be fine.”

* * *

As he twisted out of the way of another fireball, Batman quickly threw two batarangs, not surprised to have them blasted out of the air. It had been such a quite night, even the Jokerz were keeping out of trouble (which usually meant they’d be in trouble later but he’d deal with it then). The hero had almost gotten the Old Man to agree to turn in early when the bank alarm went off. With a sigh the teen parked the Batmobile on the building’s roof before dropping in through the skylight. He’d expected several masked men in dark clothing wielding guns, instead he’d been met with a single man who had red and yellow streaked hair, a red shirt and tan pants, and held a fireball in his hand. Of course being the responsible hero, Batman quickly activated his rockets and tackled the man out of the bank, leading to the current fight.

“You got anything on this one Old Man?” Batman asked his boss.

“Not one of mine,” Bruce said over the headset, “I’m going through the League’s old database, but it would speed things up if I had a name.”

“Don’t worry, way ahead of you.” Terry replied before turning his attention back to his opponent. Throwing a smoke bomb in the man’s face, Batman taunted the Metahuman by saying, “What’s the matter match head? Is blowing smoke all you’re good for?”

“The name’s Hotsteak!” The older man yelled before putting his hands together and launching a heat ray at the hero. “And I’ll show some wannabe bat just how good I am!”

Dodging the attack, Batman noted that the heat was so intense it actually melted part of the wall behind him. As he moved in to try and take down the villain, the dark knight could only think, ‘That will certainly ruin someone’s day, I hope Gordon got everyone cleared out.’

* * *

Not far away from the battle was one of Neo-Gotham’s many strip clubs, the Femme Fatale. Inside the men were enjoying the show as the woman onstage, a tall, longhaired, buxom red head danced on the main stage in a very tiny bikini. As the woman was about to remove her top, two NGPD burst through the front door, yelling, “Alright, everyone out! We’ve got a Metahuman a few blocks over with the possibility of the fight spreading here! Come on people, let’s move it!”

While the men grumbled and muttered about interrupting the show, the woman just smiled as she collected the remaining tips. “Don’t worry boys,” she said in a southern drawl, “just come back tomorrow, Cherry will be sure to make you pop.” Once the last customer left, the smile dropped from the woman’s face as she went back stage. After picking up her few possessions and making sure none of the other girls planted something in her space, the woman grabbed her coat and went to the back office where a large, balding man was counting the day’s profits.

After a few minutes the man finally noticed the woman and rudely demanded, “What do you want?”

“It’s Wednesday, the day we agreed I’d get paid.” The woman simple said. In response the man grumbled but none the less shoved a few credits towards the woman, who quickly counted the money. When she didn’t leave, the man raised an eyebrow, to which the woman explained, “This is only 80, you promised me 250.”

“You show up here looking for a job, no ID, no Social Security, nothing.” The man said. “So if I hire you off the books, you take what you get when I decide to give it, you got that?” Although she was sure she could take the man in a fight, the woman just took the credits and left.

Once outside, the woman walked into an ally before a metamorphosis occurred. Her long hair turned into a black pixie cut, her chest shrunk to a more reasonable size, her height dropped down to average and her clothes turned into a yellow shirt, black skirt, and read jacket. Pulling out her tips, the woman added her payment to the stack of plastic cards, thankfully having just enough to make rent, good thing she didn’t need to budget for food.

* * *

Dodging fireballs was getting annoying. Barely keeping his anger in check, Batman keyed his comlink and asked, “Any progress?”

“Hotstreak, real name Francis Stone. A Bang Baby from Dakota City. Known for his violent temper, escaped from a maximum security facility three days ago.” Bruce replied in a monotone. “Don’t worry, help should be arriving soon.”

“Well I’d like the help here now.” Batman almost yelled. Just as he finished speaking a bolt of purple electricity sailed past the dark knight and hit his opponent.

As Hotstreak got back to his feet, he glared at someone behind Batman, “Great it’s you.”

“Yeah, me.” Turning around, the teen hero saw a black man with dreadlocks wearing a yellow mask and a purple and black body suit, a yellow circle and lightning bolt displayed proudly on his chest. “Really Hotstreak, how many times are we going to do this song and dance? You escape from jail,” the man then sent some electricity to a nearby fire hydrant, knocking off one value and sending a torrent of water at the fire powered villain, “and I bring you back in.” While the foe was depowered, the man turned to Batman and said, “If you’ve got knock-out pellets use them.” The hero quickly nodded before taking the tools out of his suit, throwing the pellets at Hotstreak who was caught in the knock-out gas just as the water stopped flowing from the hydrant.

After snapping a set of cuffs on the villain, Batman turned to his ally and said, “Thanks, I could have handled it though.”

The man just chuckled and said, “Don’t get too big a head or else you’ll never solve your feline problem.” Before Batman could ask what the man meant, he’d already pulled out a collapsible disk and used his electricity to simultaneously magnetize and de-magnetize the metal, allowing the man to fly. Giving a two finger solute to the Dark Knight, the man said, “You’ve got potential kid, but you’ve also got a lot to learn.”

After handing Hotstreak over to the GCPD, Batman keyed his com-link and said, “I’m going to feel stupid for asking this, but who was that?”

“Static Shock,” Bruce instantly replied, “One of a few Bang Baby heroes. Started when he was about your age, helped the original seven a few times before becoming a full time member. After Darkside he changed back to being a part timer, focusing mostly on humanitarian work. Nowadays the man is basically retired, only showing up to keep his old rogues in check or if there’s a potentially worldwide crisis.”

“Yep, as I thought, I feel stupid now.” Batman confessed as he climbed into the Batmobile.

As the teenage crime fighter was flying over the city, his mentor noticed his flight path and raised an eyebrow. “Not coming back to base for an early night?” Bruce questioned.

“I should but I figured one last fly over of the city wouldn’t hurt.” Batman stated, “Plus what Static said about my ‘feline problem’ got me thinking about how the new Catwoman stayed in town instead of disappearing.”

Bruce just smirked as he slowly got up from his chair, “Alright kid, just don’t make it personal. Your patrol should take you about an hour and half, I trust you should be fine by yourself for that long.” Bruce didn’t wait to hear Batman’s response, instead he slowly walked over to the stairs where Ace was waiting. Pausing to lean down and pet his faithful dog, the old man said, “Come on boy, let’s get back upstairs. It’s been awhile since we last had guests, I should make sure we still have coffee.”

* * *

As her boss had predicted, Catwoman was able to follow the car to a roof top estate on the far end of Neo-Gotham. Although it sat on top of a modern sky scrapper, the living area was made in the traditional Japanese style. Stopping at a neighboring rooftop, Catwoman quickly switched to her masks inferred setting to see a mild surprise. “Boss, any reason there’s only five guys in the penthouse?”

After some muted cursing on the other end of the com-link, Selina responded, “It appears most of the Yakuza have already skipped town. Don’t worry though, it appears the leader of this branch is still there so there should be enough valuables to make this trip worth it.”

“Also looks like this will be an easy grab.” Catwoman commented as she scanned the penthouse for additional security. “I don’t see any more guns waiting anywhere and I don’t see anything that indicates a security system, not even cameras.”

“Fools are probably overconfident that their name would discourage anyone from attempting a break in.” Selina commented, “As for the cameras, since everything is automated these days they probably didn’t want their less than legal activities recorded.”

“No skin off my bones,” Catwoman replied as she jumped across the street to begin her climb, “it just makes my job easier.”

After fifteen minutes of climbing, Catwoman finally reached the edge of the penthouse, entering the dwelling through a well maintained garden, the centerpiece a lion carved from jade. ‘I’ll have to come back for that one.’ the thief thought as she activated her suit’s cloaking and silently opened a window and entered an empty room. After a quick glance to confirm no one was around, Catwoman stealthily opened the door and walked into the hallway, past the dinning room where the men were gathered, and towards the office.

Once inside the room, the teen quickly found the safe hidden behind a painting of a geisha. It almost appeared that Catwoman had put too much effort into preparing for this heist as the safe was an old, tumbler-lock model instead of something more high end. Putting one of her ears against the metal, the teen was easily able to hear as the tumblers slide into place and was able to claim her prize when she heard the door open. Whipping around quickly, the thief saw one of the gang members standing frozen in the doorway.

Catwoman acted first, activating her laser whip and striking the man across the chest, sending him across the hall where he knocked he head against the wall and knocked himself out with a loud bang. Wincing at the noise, Catwoman quickly opened her bag and shoved the loot inside, the time for subtly had long since passed. As expected once the teen left the room the other four men had come to investigate. At seeing the intruder, three reached inside their jackets for weapons while the last one retreated further into the house. As the men began to fire, Catwoman began to dodge. Due to her training against the turrets that had a much higher rate of fire, the next few minutes were child’s play to the thief.

Running up on of the walls, Catwoman launched herself into s kick at the first man’s had, knocking him out. The second man was shaking too badly after seeing his comrade get taken down so quickly that he couldn’t line up a proper shot at the woman, a fact the thief took advantage of as she rolled forward to sweep his legs out from underneath him. Once the man hit the ground, Catwoman finished the job with a swift punch to the face. Unfortunately this left her open for just a split second, a fact the last man capitalized on as he got one shot off, aimed dead center of the thief’s head. Remaining calm, Catwoman quickly extended her claws and batted the laser shot away into the wall before advancing on her remaining opponent, leaving her claws out as she racked them across the man’s hand. With a cry of pain, the last Yakuza thug dropped his gun as he glared at the thief and said, “You bitch.”

“Do I look like a dog to you?” Catwoman challenged. Grabbing the front of the man’s shirt, the thief stated, “I’m feline, and don’t you forget it.” After knocking the last man out, Catwoman was about to reclaim her loot before a voice behind her spoke up.

“Then I suppose it’s time to see just how many ways one can skin a cat.” The thug who had run away had now returned, now carrying an old katana. As the man slowly pulled the weapon from its sheath, Catwoman was confident her suit’s armor could take the hit, only for her boss to yell in her comlink.

“Whatever happens do not get cut by that sword!”

“What?” Catwoman questioned before being forced to dodge as the sword wielder moved with much more speed than she expected.

“No time to explain,” Selina frantically replied, “just get some distance, use your whip to disarm him, and end the fight quickly, Neo-Gotham PD are already on their way, probably a concerned neighbor heard the fight.”

The teen thief did as she was instructed. After ducking another slice, she back flipped several times to the other end of the hallway before pulling out her own weapon. Cracking the laser whip a couple times to try to intimidate her opponent, she then tried to land several strikes, all of which her opponent dodged, just as she wanted. On the last strike, Catwoman quickly flicked her wrist so that the whip dug into the Yakuza thug’s wrists and forced him to point the blade down. From there, the woman launched herself at the man, landing a knee strike on his chin and knocking him out.

“Good job, honey.” Selina said over the com-link. “Now go grab your bag and do me a favor, take the sword as well.”

With a shrug Catwoman did as instructed, not really seeing what was so special about the ancient weapon. The thief made sure to stop by the garden on her way out and collect her new lion, smiling to herself as she heard the NGPD breaking down the front door as she jumped over the railing.

* * *

Batman flew the Batmobile over the city for an hour, and aside from Hotstreak the night continued to be uneventful. As the vehicle passed over the docks, the Dark Knight though he saw something shifting on the ground. Using the bottom hatch to quickly exit, Batman glided down to where he thought he saw the disturbance, only to see concrete and some dirt. He was about to fly back up to the Batmobile, only for the dirt to start moving. Ordinarily the crime fighter would attribute this to the wind, only to see the dirt crawl around a corner. Intrigued, Batman began running after the moving earth as he tried to contact Bruce on the com link. “Hey Old Man, you there?” When he was meet with silence, Batman almost smacked himself when he remembered his boss said to finish up on his own. This momentary distraction was enough for the crime fighter to lose sight of the moving dirt. Deciding the anomaly wasn’t an immediate threat, Batman decided to call it a night but would tell Bruce about the encounter.

Ten minutes later, the Batmobile pulled into the Batcave. As Terry took his mask on, he saw his boss walking forward with a cup of fresh coffee.

“Thank, what’s the occasion?” Terry asked as he accepted the drink.

“You’ve had a long night, and you won’t have enough time to get some sleep before you have class.” Bruce answered simply.

“And it was such a quite night.” Terry lamented. “I could have actually gotten six hours of rest if it wasn’t for Hotstreak and that moving dirt.”

Quickly rounding on his student, Bruce asked, “Moving dirt?”

“By the docks,” Terry began as he went to change into his street clothes, “after you went silent I thought I saw something. I hoped out of the jet to get a better look only to see some loose dirt that seemed to have a mind of its own. I lost the stuff, but I didn’t see anything harmful about it.”

“Not yet anyway.” Bruce muttered under his breath, although Terry heard the old man. Seeing the raised eyebrow, the first Dark Knight explained, “Just a theory I have, I’ll see if Barbara can look into it so we have one less open case.”

“If this is about Catwoman…” Terry began, only to be interrupted by Bruce.

“It’s not.” After a beat of silence, the man elaborated, “When I had the mask I’d have multiple investigations ongoing every day, but you’re not me. You don’t have the experience, more importantly you still have a life to live. I could be the mystery billionaire, popping up every now and again to remind people I was alive, but you can’t. You have school, obligations, and more importantly a family.” By now the pair had made it up to the mansion. Feeling he had been slightly too hard on the kid, Bruce stated, “Look, you’re young, perhaps someday you will be like I was in my prime, but you shouldn’t be rushing into it only to sacrifice everything you have, especially after you just patched things up with your girlfriend. Go home McGinnis, and get some rest.”

Nodding, Terry opened the door and called out, “See you tomorrow Mr. Wayne.” As he walked down the private road to his hover bike.

Ten minutes after Terry left, Bruce heard a knock on the front door. As he opened it, Bruce gave a smile as he said, “Hello Virgil, I was expecting you.”

“Hello to you too Mr. Wayne.” Virgil Hawkins, a black man in a blue suit, his grey dreadlocks pulled back, replied as he walked in before asking, “How have the years been treating you so far?”

“As alright as anyone else I suppose,” Bruce replied as he lead his guest to the only sitting room without any sheets covering the furniture. “I’m still sorry I can’t donate as much to your nonprofit as I once could. How are your wife and son doing?” He asked as he walked to the kitchen.

Taking a seat, the younger man waved off Bruce’s concern, “Its fine, the Robert Hawkins Foundation has plenty of donors, and you’ve already given us enough over the years. As for Shanice, she still enjoys organizing the fundraisers, and Adam is enjoying being on the league's reserve list.” Noticing how quite the house was, the man asked, “Hey, where’s your protégé?”

“Probably on his way home.” Bruce answered as he walked back into the room, a cup of coffee in his hand.

After accepting the cup, Virgil asked, “What’s the matter, don’t want him knowing the president of the East Coast’s largest nonprofit is a hero from the good old days?”

“No, but he’s young and inexperienced. He can’t pull the hours I use to.” Bruce countered before asking, “So Terry said you mentioned our current feline problem.”

“I did, and honestly I’m surprised you haven’t caught Catwoman by now.” Virgil stated before challenging, “Of course for us it would be far too easy since we know who she is.” For a brief moment there was tense silence between the pair before the younger of the two asked, “Have you told him yet?”

Releasing a deep sigh, Bruce said, “No, and I don’t plan to, this is something Terry needs to figure out on his own and handle in his own way.” Looking straight at his guest Bruce stated, “You know my history with dating, things don’t exactly end smoothly when I’m involved. If possible I’d rather not have either of them involved this early in Terry’s training.”

Once more the two men sat in silence before Virgil asked, “How long are you going to be in denial Bruce? Because of my experience with time travel, I’m one of the few you told about that mission. I know you want to believe the events were an alternate timeline, but I can see the events lining up. We can’t be like Chronos and try to change history, we can only try to prepare the kids as soon as possible, and that means telling them the whole truth.”

“And I will, all of them.” Bruce stated. “But only when everyone becomes involved. Both of the kids have too much on their plates right now to know the other is involved. McGinnis can barely handle a single major case a month, and his girlfriend is still focused on the small time families. The pair aren’t ready for what the truth would bring.” The man then gave one more challenge, "You think we're on the same timeline, but I'm fairly certain we're only living in one fairly similar to those events. You seem to forget we are absent one individual."

"Right, your daughter," the Metahuman commented, “well I suppose you do have a point there." Virgil conceded as he finished his coffee. As he stood to leave, he said, “No matter the circumstance, it was nice to see you again. I’ll be in the city for the next few days if your boy needs help.”

Bruce also stood to show Virgil to the door as he said. “Thanks, if who I think is in town, Terry will need it.”

* * *

Dana had silently sorted through her loot for the fourth time. As with the previous times, Selina had remained silent, completely focused on the sword she insisted Dana take with her. Finally vocalizing her thoughts, the young thief asked, “So what’s so special about that sword anyway?”

“This,” Selina began, “belonged to a dear friend of mine. She called it the soultaker sword, claimed it was magic and imprisoned the souls of those that died by the blade. Ironic she met her end by her own weapon, some young punk broke into her home, caught her unaware and used the first thing they could get their hands on, probably didn’t even know what they had.”

“Sorry about your friend, but really? Magic?” Dana challenged.

“I wouldn’t discount it,” Selina fired back, “how do you think Zatana stays so young? In any case you’ll have the next week, I have to go to Japan to get this blade purified and the soul’s released.” Giving her apprentice a look, Selina stated, “You might not believe right now, but I’ve seen enough things in this life to warrant a bit of belief, and if I’m able to I’d like to provide some peace of mind for myself. Now get home, you have class tomorrow.”

Dana nodded, grabbing her share of the loot, changing into her street clothes, and dropping off her suit before heading out the door.

* * *

“So what happened to the jade lion?” Melanie asked as the pair walked into school. Dana had just finished retelling the events of the previous night’s heist.

“Gave it to my dad as an early birthday gift, now he has a matching set for some bookends for his office.” Dana stated as the pair got to their lockers. “But now that Ms. Kyle is out of town I have the week off with nothing to do since Mr. Wayne will probably have some project for Terry. Any chance you want to hit up the Juice Bar?”

“I don’t know about the new girl, but I’ll certainly take you up on your offer.” A voice behind the pair said. Quickly turning, Dana smiled as she saw a black girl with short pink hair wearing a yellow sleeve-less shirt and tight black pants.

“Max!” the teen cried as she hugged the other girl. “When did you get back?” she then noticed Max’s hair and added, “And what happened to your hair?”

“Just last night, and I needed something to stand out on my college applications, well aside from my outstanding intellect.” Max replied with a smile. She then turned to Melanie and asked, “So you know who I am, and you are?”

“Melanie Walker.” The former thief said as she held out a hand, “I’m new.”

“I can tell, I’m usually on the welcoming committee. So anyway, Juice Bar this weekend? It would be a great way to get to know you since Dana seems to have latched onto you.” Max asked.

Melanie shrugged her shoulders as she said, “Sure, I’ve got nothing else right now.”

“Then it’s all set.” Dana declared with a smile. A good heist, a week off, hanging with her best friend and her new friend. Who knows, maybe Mr. Wayne would be nice and let Terry have some time off as well. It was turning out to be a good week.

* * *

As Jonathan Combs pulled himself out of his locker, he reflected that he wasn’t having a good week, but then again that was nothing new. As he tumbled out of his personal torture chamber, a skinny girl with her hair dyed a deep purple that matched her dress bent down to help collect his papers and asked, “Jefferson again?”

“Him and just about everyone else.” Jonathan stated. Being literally the skinniest and weakest teen in the school due to his medical condition made Jonathan an outcast, and an easy target. His pale skin and long blonde hair didn’t help matters, a favorite insult would be his title of ‘The Living Corpse.’ “Thanks for helping Madison.”

The other teen just nodded before asking, “So my place or yours today?”

“Mine I suppose, I’m sure you’re looking for more creepy things in my attic.” Despite appearance, the pair weren’t friends. It would be more accurate to say they tolerated each other. Jonathan helped Madison in practically every subject, particularly chemistry, while she provided him with a moderate sense of safety, save for the times she is suspended due to being caught on school grounds with a knife. What could be said, high school was rough, especially in the lower levels of Neo-Gotham.

After half an hour, the pair made it to the house that had been in Jonathan’s family for generations. His grandfather used to claim that the house contained all the secrets that would allow the family to rise above the filth, but that was before he was placed in the old folks home. As they did each time the pair were at the Comb house, they threw their backpacks and other school related items onto the dining room table before heading up to the attic.

Personally, Jonathan didn’t like the attic. The low hanging ceiling and little light just gave the teen a sense of claustrophobia. Madison on the other hand absolutely loved the space. Due to the history of Jonathan’s extended family, there were some rather interesting items up there. Usually the girl would find some old hat or retro Halloween decoration that Jonathan would let her keep. As usual the two teens departed to different ends of the large room as the skinny boy got back to work on his latest nemesis, an old wooden trunk with the world’s toughest padlock. This time Jonathan came prepared, it was hard carrying the toolbox up the ladder but would be worth it once the trunk was opened.

After struggling for an hour, Madison came over to check on the other teen’s progress. “Still no luck?”

“Obviously.” Jonathan indicated the still closed lid with the hammer he’d brought with him.

In response, Madison rolled her eyes as she said, “Well you’re doing it wrong.” Taking a screwdriver, the girl put the rod through the lock’s loop and pulled as she said, “You don’t need power, you need leverage.”

Jonathan was about to call her crazy, only to hear a loud crack. The lock was still in one piece, but the wood holding the latch had come apart, years of miss care weakening the wood to make the feat possible. Rather than marvel at the one in a million chance of her plan working, Madison quickly moved the now useless lock out of the way and flipped the lid up, smiling as she looked inside.

“Check this thing out,” The teen said as she pulled out a glove, one modified to have a syringe on each finger and medical tubes running up the wearer’s arm, “Almost looks like something from a horror movie.”

Although interesting, Jonathan recognized the contraption. Pushing Madison out of the way, and receiving an angry hey in response, Jonathon dug around the trunk until he found a small, brown, leather bound book. Opening the tome to the first page, the boy read aloud, “This is the Journal of Dr. Jonathan Crane, Volume 24.”

Recognizing the name, Madison asked, “This is Scarecrow’s shit?”

“Yep,” Jonathan replied as he flipped through the yellowed pages until he found what he wanted. Showing Madison a complex chemical equation, the teen smiled as he stated, “and here’s an opportunity for some revenge.”

Not understanding half of what was written, Madison asked, “Do you even have everything for that?”

“Almost,” Jonathan replied as he hurried back downstairs, “most of this stuff I have in my old chemistry set, and I know where to find the missing ingredient.”

* * *

It was well past midnight as the two teens made it to the Neo-Gotham zoo. Of course the gates were locked, but that was nothing a pair of bolt cutters couldn’t fix. From there it was a game of cat and mouse with the few security bots still in service as the teens headed to their destination, the insect house. Walking along the display cases, Jonathan muttered to himself as he read each plaque.

“So what are you looking for again?” Madison asked.

Jonathan was about to roll his eyes until his flashlight caught the next plaque. “These right here, Gromphadorhina portentosa, the Madagascar hissing cockroach.” He then shined his light against the laminated glass and asked, “Do you mind?”

Rolling her eyes, Madison shoved a Tupperware container into the other teen’s arms. The girl stove forward, raised up her bolt cutters and slammed them against the glass. It took three hits, and each one produced a loud bang, but eventually the glass was smashed inward. Reaching in, Madison grasped a few of the insects, giggling as they crawled over her hand. After placing the first few in the container, the girl reached back in for more of the insects until the enclosure was empty.

Putting the lid back on the container and taking it back from Jonathan, Madison asked, “So how much are we going to get from these?”

“Enough.” Jonathan replied as he led the other teen back outside, only to quickly pusher her into the bushes and cover her mouth. Madison was about to smash the boy over the head, only for her eyes to widen as she saw a silhouette fly down and land on the sidewalk, a large red bat displayed prominently on the figure’s chest.

For what seemed like an eternity, the pair were silent as Batman seemed to stare at them. Suddenly the crime fighter brought his hand up to one of his ears and spoke aloud, “Yeah I’m at the zoo. You sure? Okay I’m on my way over.”

After Batman left, Jonathan and Madison stayed in the bushes for a few more minutes. Once satisfied the coast was clear, the two quickly made it back to the main entrance and back to the Combs’ house, they had work to do.

* * *

It was a quick drive from the zoo to the center of down town, where Batman stared at what looked like a living block of orange clay with a face. “Is that?” the crime fighter began.

“Clayface.” Bruce finished. “I thought I’d seen the last of him years ago, but now he’s resurfaced, the question is why.”

“We can figure that out later, right now I need to introduce myself.” Batman said before launching himself out of the Batmobile.

Batman had intended to take the giant foe down with a surprise attack, however at the last second the villain turned and swatted the hero away. “It seems no matter how much Gotham changes, Batman still persists,” the man said.

“Well someone has to keep your ugly mug in check.” Batman challenged, only to receive a heavy hit that sent him flying.

“You got guts kid, but trust me when I tell ya I’d crush you if I felt like it. Now fly away back to the roost, I’ve got to find someone.” Clayface said as he turned back, only to groan in annoyance as he felt a batarang sink into the back of his head. “Seriously, is this your first week on the job or something? That ain’t going to work on me.”

“Maybe, we’ll just have to see.” Batman challenged with a smirk.

Now Clayface heard a beeping. Quickly deducing the trap, the villain shifted the batarang into his arm before throwing his hand off his body and towards Batman. This caught the crime fighter unaware and he watched, shocked as the giant clump of clay came speeding at him. Luckily the batarang exploded before the clay could make contact, however the blast knocked the Dark Knight back several feet.

Quickly getting back to his feet, Batman was ready to continue the fight, only to see his foe had vanished, all that remained was the scattered clay from the explosion. “Great, he’s gone.”

“He’ll be back.” Bruce commented over the com-link. “Looks like for some reason he’s reassembling slower. It’s too late to track him right now and you’re ill prepared to incapacity Clayface. Grab a sample for me and get back here, you need to read up on my villain logs.”

As he did what was instructed, Batman asked, “Do you have any idea how many villains you’ve fought? It’ll take me ages to read them all.”

“Fine, I’ll limit them to those alive and with currently living family.” Bruce conceded.

* * *

“I think we’re going to need to buy your mom a new blender.” Madison stated as she shook the remaining puréed cockroaches out.

“Irrelevant.” Jonathan stated as he finished adding the ingredients and stated stirring the mixture until the liquid became a dull, glowing green. “Not when we have this.”

“How do we even know if this works?” Madison asked. In response Jonathan walked to the bathroom, rummaging around for a moment before returning with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and an syringe. After sucking a minuscule amount into the needle, the teen cleaned a patch of Madison’s skin as he said, "This is less than a tenth of the usual dosage, enough to get your heart racing, but nothing deadly.”

“Fine, just hurry up!” the girl yelled.

“What, afraid of needles?” Jonathan challenged as he stuck the syringe into Madison’s arm. The girl was about to respond, only for her eyes to suddenly dilate. Jonathan was unprepared for the intensity of the sudden scream, knocking him off his chair. After pulling himself off the floor and seeing Madison hyperventilating, he asked, “You good?”

By now calming down, Madison nodded before saying, “Yeah, let’s get this stuff loaded into the glove and swing by my house for the costume. Jefferson is going to shit his pants.”

* * *

Jason Jefferson was a top athlete. Although born into a family living in the lower levels of Neo-Gotham, he had shown a talent for sports at a young age. Knowing it was their ticket to the higher levels, his parents had pushed their son to pursue his talent during all his free time. Although it didn’t allow for many friends, Jason would never complain, he had other ways of having fun.

Currently the jock was lighting weights in his school’s multipurpose room. Although students really shouldn’t stay after class, being the star quarterback had certain perks. As the teen put the dumbbell away, he heard some loud banging. After this continued for a few minutes, the athlete became annoyed. Grabbing a 15 pound kettlebell, Jason marched to the door, kicking it open into the dark hallway as he yelled, “If whoever is out there doesn’t stop there’s going to be some problems."

Jason expected silence, instead he heard footsteps running up behind him. All he saw was a burlap mask secured to the wearer with a noose and a gloved hand with needle fingers. Jason meant to swing the weight at the stranger, only for the needles to sink into his arm, a green liquid unnoticed before draining into his body. As the world around him began to catch fire, Jason screamed at the top of his lungs and dropped to the floor.

* * *

There were somedays Barbara hated her promotion. Sure she was living up to her father’s legacy and could help direct the NGPD’s resources to the areas that needed it the most. She took pride in the fact that she now prevented crime instead of reacting to it, but all this paperwork meant she had little time to actually conduct an investigation of her own anymore. So when her office phone rang, showing the caller ID to be Neo-Gotham General, the police commissioner was a little confused but welcome the distraction.

“This is Commissioner Gordon, what do you need?” The office asked in her usual straightforward fashion.

“Hello Commissioner,” the voice on the other end began, slightly shaky for some reason, “at approximately 10:45 the previous night a John Doe was admitted to our care. The patient’s continually screaming and noncompliance necessitated our staff to put the individual under sedation.”

“Alright, I’ll send a car over to pick the kid up once he get done with his bad trip.” Barbara commented and was about to hang up before the voice spoke up again.

“Initially that was our thoughts as well, but after review our staff do not believe the individual willingly injected any drug into themselves.” After a quick pause the person elaborated, “We got the teen’s toxicology report an hour ago and got a hit for something called ‘Fear Gas’. None of us knew exactly what it was and thought if might be some retro drug the young man found in an old stash. We tried looking in some old medical books to see if there was any previous mentions and found an entry about the Scarecrow.” When the voice was meet by silence, they asked, “Commissioner Gordon, are you still there?”

Upon hearing the words “Fear Gas” Barbara’s mind began reliving a nightmare that had haunted her for years, of her back during her Batgirl days, of her falling, of her father declaring a war on masks, of seeing people she cared about die by each other’s’ hands. Shaking herself back to the present, the woman replied, “Yeah I heard you. I’m sending a few officers to watch the room and ask the kid some questions once he wakes up. Thank you for letting me know.”

Barbara didn’t wait for a response as she hung up. Almost immediately she dialed another number. She wasn’t surprised when the phone was picked up after the first ring. “That was quick.” Bruce commented.

“Unfortunately my men haven’t found any trace of Clayface, but we have another problem.” After taking a deep breath, the woman told her former mentor, “A kid was admitted to the hospital last night, they just now found out he’s suffering from Fear Gas.”

The line was silent before Bruce asked, “Are they sure? Crane’s been dead for years and he didn’t have any children.”

“Their positive,” Barbara replied, “the doctors didn’t even recognize it until after toxicology. This is a problem Bruce. Clayface is just after money, if whoever found Crane’s old formula is like the Scarecrow of old they’ll just be after chaos.”

“I know. Static is in the area right now, I’ll keep him and the kid informed. Thank you for sharing.” Bruce hung up before Barbara could respond. Honestly she was a bit surprised that Bruce accepted outside help so readily, even during his league days the man was a bit territorial about Gotham being “his” city, although when lives were at stake it seemed he more than readily swallowed his pride.

* * *

Jonathan smiled as he rewatched the morning news. Due to the strange nature of the attack on one of their students, the principal had decided to cancel classes for the day, giving the students a three day weekend. That left Jonathan and Madison to bask in the glory of a job well done. “This is too perfect.”

“I’ll say, maybe now everyone else will think twice before acting up.” Madison commented from the couch, having spent the night.

“Maybe, but a little extra fear never hurt anything.” Jonathan said.

Raising an eyebrow, Madison challenged, “Do we really need to do that again? Wasn’t once enough?”

“Once is never enough,” Jonathan fired back. Nodding his head to the fridge where they kept the left over fear gas, or maybe it would be more adapt to call it a toxin, the pale teen said, “Besides, it would be a waste to let the leftovers just sit there.”

Not seeing a problem with the plan, the girl just shrugged her shoulders as she stated, “Fine by me, but let’s go after one of the bitch cheerleaders this time. You settled your score, time for me to settle mine.”

If Jonathan heard her he didn’t respond, to wrapped up in rewatching the news report once more.

* * *

As he raced out of the Batcave, Batman reflected on a few of the perks of publically working for Bruce Wayne. One such perk was that when the billionaire called your school requesting you be let out of class early it was done, no questions asked. Unfortunately such requests were rare, and often were only necessary due to hero business. That was why the crime fighter was currently racing towards one of Neo-Gotham's lower levels, Clayface had been sighted once more.

Arriving at the scene, the Dark Knight immediately noticed two things. First was the crowd of civilians running away. The second was that he wasn't the first crime fighter on scene. As Static ripped a mailbox out of the sidewalk to block an attack, Batman threw a batarang and asked, "You need some help there?"

"Considering I'm fighting one of your villains? Yes that would be appreciated." The older hero replied as he attempted to use the mailbox to hit the villain, only for Clayface to shift his body around and allow the electrified metal to pass through harmlessly.

At seeing Batman's arrival, Clayface growled as he said, "I don't have time for this, I need to find that bitch." The man's body shifted once more, shocking the heroes as it split apart into four smaller, but identical replicates of the original, however rather than fight the heroes, the villain ran in separate directions, the copies all going down different storm drains.

After a moment of silence, Batman asked the more experienced crime fighters, "So should we go after him?"

In response, Static shook his head before stating, "No, with that many copies he'd be able to lead us on a wild goose chase while he reforms and gets the drop on us. The sewer is his turf, I'd rather not fall into a trap down there."

"He's right McGinnis." Bruce agreed over the comlink. "Have him follow you back to the cave, I have some equipment that might help you two fight Clayface. Then we might be able to figure out who he's after this time and what his goal is."

The flight back to the Batcave was uneventful and silent. Batman had a slight fear about his mentor revealing himself to another hero, only to find it unfounded due to Static giving Bruce a warm greeting. Still, Batman kept his mask on, not yet knowing if Bruce trust the other hero enough to reveal the identity of his protégé. As the three gathered around the Batcomputer, Bruce began playing back the recorded footage of the latest brawl with Clayface.

"I feel like we're missing something." Static spoke up. "Why is Clayface making these public appearances? And who is he looking for, usually he's after money, so is he trying to ransom someone? But then why would he be in the lower levels?" The semi-retired hero wondered aloud.

Bruce opened his mouth to comment, only to have his jaw drop when he saw a face on the recording. "It can't be." the man told himself as he rewound the footage and paused the image, in the center of the crowd was a dark haired woman from his past, although seemingly much older.

"Who is she?" Batman asked.

"Annie." the former Dark Knight replied, still in shock.

"The same Annie the last Robin told me stories about?" Static questioned. When Bruce nodded, Static continued his questioning, "How? Based on what Robin told me, this shouldn't be possible."

"I honestly don't have a clue," Bruce admitted, "but things are starting to make sense. Clayface can't reform as fast and is weaker because a part of him is rebelling. He's searching for Annie to be whole once more."

"So then what's the plan?" Batman asked.

In response, Bruce typed in a string of commands into the Batcomputer, causing one of the drawers in a nearby are to open. Formulating his plan, Bruce began, "Go back out there and find Clayface. Take the ice grenades to help incapacitate him. Watch your throws, I only have the three and there isn't time to make more. While you're out, try to find Annie so we can get her some help."

Their orders given, the two heroes left the cave in search of their target.

* * *

The pair spent the next hour checking the locations Bruce offered, but so far neither had seen either Clayface or Annie. Eventually the two decided to split up, Batman going to the areas Bruce suggested while Static went on his own.

Knowing he was ill-equipped to fight Clayface on his own, Static had resolved to look for Annie. Using a few tricks he'd picked up during his younger years, the Metahuman flew around Neo-Gotham's lower levels. He was just about to give up the search when something grabbed his attention, a woman's height and hair color changed in an instant. Too far away to grab her, Static instead yelled out, "Annie!"

The response was immediate as the woman looked up and locked eyes with the hero. However, before Static could lower himself to the street, Annie took off. Sighing, all Static could do was follow as the woman ran down an dead end ally. Seeing she was trapped Annie turned to run, only for Static to descend in front of her.

"Please," Annie began to plead, "I haven't done anything wrong."

"I know, I just want to help keep you safe." Static replied.

"Then just leave me alone!" Annie yelled back. "I finally get away from him again and now you'll just attract him to me."

"That's not what I'm trying to do." Static began, only for his cellphone to go off. Quickly answering the call, the hero nodded his head before saying he was on his way. Turning his attention back to Annie, Static stated, "You have to believe that no one wants to hurt you. Right now a friend of mine is fighting Clayface. I'm going to help him, what you do is up to you."

With that the Metahuman flew out of the ally, leaving Annie to think over his words.

* * *

It seemed good luck never stuck with Batman. After separating from Static, the teen crime fighter flew through the city, paying particular attention to the storm drains and manhole covers. Hoping to end things before a fight happened, the Dark Knight tossed one of the ice grenades at his foe's head. Unfortunately Clayface must have seen a reflection in a nearby window as the villain quickly turned around and blocked the weapon with one of his arms. As the weapon exploded, ice began to race up Clayface's arm. Not having any other choice, he tore the limb from his body, shifting his mass to replace the missing limb.

For once Clayface was silent as he raced towards Batman. The crime fighter readied to toss another grenade, only to fumble the weapon when he was forced to dodge one of Clayface's extended arms. Taking a step back, Batman keyed his comlink and told Bruce, "I found Clayface, currently engaging him at the corner of Bullock and Kane."

"Help's on the way." Bruce replied as Batman was swatted into a nearby building. The villain continued to advance, silent as ever as he shifted one of his hands into a spiked ball. Clayface moved to launch his next attack, only for a pipe to burst from the ground and block his attack.

"Thanks for the save." Batman told Static as the older hero arrived.

"Anytime." the man replied as he shifted more pipes to form a makeshift, gapless cage around Clayface to temporarily hold the villain. "You have any more of those grenades."

Holding up the last of the set, Batman said, "Last one. Nailed Clayface with the first one but the ice moved too slow. I lost the second during the fight."

Nodding, Static ordered, "Give me that one and let's see if I can supercharge it." Batman did as ordered. Once the grenade was in hand, Static focused on feeding electricity into the weapon as Clayface began to break out of the pipes.

"Did you really expect that to hold me?" the villain questioned.

"No, just buy us some time." Static replied as he threw the now glowing ice grenade at Clayface, hitting the villain in the chest. The man watched, shocked as the ice crept along his body at a much faster pace than before. The heroes believed that'd won, when Clayface did something shocking. Before the ice could reach his neck, the villain ripped off his head and tossed it clear of his body.

After bouncing once, Clayface spoke up, "That might of actually worked, but now you're all out of toys!" Clayface declared.

As the two heroes began to formulate a new plan, a new voice spoke up, "Maybe, but they aren't out of friends." The trio looked toward the end of the street to see Annie, glaring at Clayface.

After a stunned moment of silence, Clayface began laughing as he said, "Ready to stop running and come back to your father?"

Her glare intensifying, Annie responded, "You're not my father, but I'm done running. I'm not afraid of you anymore!"

Now Clayface glared as he replied, "You should be." Faster than anyone could react, the villain extended his arms, engulfing Annie completely. As he brought his creation back into himself, Clayface laughed and turned back towards the heroes. "Now, where were we?"

As the two got ready to fight, something burst out of Clayface's chest, the blod landed on the street with a loud splat. Slowly the blob took shape, becoming a grey instead of Clayface's orange and taking on a more feminine shape that actually resembled a human. As he covered the hole in his body, Clayface growled and demanded, "How the hell did you do that?"

"I escaped from you once, did you honestly believe I'd forget how to do it again?" Annie asked as her form took a more defined shape. "And really you should be more concerned with what I left behind." To finish her statement, the woman mockingly held out something in her hand, the pin from the missing ice grenade. Clayface didn't have time to change his shocked expression before his entire body was encased with ice.

"Well that was a thing." Batman commented before his comlink activated.

"McGinnis! Get moving! There's a maniac terrorizing the Juice Bar." Bruce yelled.

"I'm on it." Batman replied. The crime fighter was about to fly away, but paused to ask Static a question.

"Go on." Static answered before the younger hero could say anything. "Gotham never rests and neither do you. Go take care of whatever the old man called you about, we can handle things here."

Batman nodded his thanks before hopping back into the Batmobile, passing by a couple of NGPD cruisers as he made his way to the upper levels of Neo-Gotham.

* * *

This wasn't how it was suppose to go. Madison had wondered the city, looking for anyone she recognized from her school. She thought she'd found her target, a teen with long black hair walking into some dance club with two other girls, one a blonde with long hair and the other a black teenager with short, dyed pink hair. The girl certainly dressed like some of the cheerleaders at Madison's school, with the incredibly short blue dress. What gave Madison pause was the fact that the other girls dressed much more conservatively, showing much less skin. Still, it appeared this was going to be her best shot tonight.

Sneaking into the club's back entrance wasn't a problem. Making her way to the bathroom, Madison quickly slide her mask on before taking out the glove and starting the difficult and time consuming process of strapping it to her arm without accidently injecting herself with the fear toxin. Her task complete, the young villain then slipped out of the bathroom and onto the dance floor, searching for her prey.

Walking around the club wasn't a problem, many of the patrons either moving out of her way or outright ignoring her. Given Neo-Gotham's history of gangs that wasn't that surprising, already the teen could see several individuals who looked like they were being prepped for a Jokerz initiation. Not letting that though distract her, Madison continued her quest. Eventually she found Miss Shortdress sitting at a table with her friends. Feeling bold, Madison walked up to the table and spun the girl around. That's when everything fell apart.

Madison didn't recognize this girl.

Still, she'd gone too far to turn back now. Acting before the other teens could question what was going on, Madison jabbed the needles into the other girl's arms, dropping her to the floor as she began screaming.

Now the attention from everyone in the club was directed on Madison. Already people were pulling out their phones to call the cops, several members of security were making their way towards her. Really wishing she hadn't used all the fear toxin, and seeing the front door wasn't an option, Madison rushed across the dance floor, crashing through the large glass window. Although landing roughly, the young villain quickly picked herself up, already hearing the police sirens. Thinking quickly, Madison rushed into a nearby ally, hoping the route would be too narrow for the police cruisers to pursue. She was actually right, hazarding a glance backwards to see the cars stopping so the officers could hop out and continue the pursuit on foot. Thinking she might actually escape, the teen turned forward and increased her speed, not noticing the large silhouette that descended from the sky.

It felt like a truck had hit her as Madison fell forward a weight on her back. As her face made contact with the concrete, her earlier momentum caused the villain to skid forward. Slightly dazed, Madison felt her nose break as blood began running down her face. Acting quickly, Madison threw her head back, hurting herself slightly but also stunning whoever was on her back. Quickly throwing them of, Madison got to her feet and came face-to-face with Batman. Too stunned to act, Madison didn't react as the Dark Knight threw out a right hook, connecting with her jaw. Shocked back into action, Madison tried a wide swing with her gloved hand, hoping the syringes would cause some damage. Batman easily caught the limb, before giving the arm a twist. Madison cried out as her wrist broke.

Falling to her knees, the girl cradled her injured limb. Seeing the crime fighter rearing back his leg for a kick, Madison quickly threw her uninjured hand up and yelled, "Wait, I give up! I give up!"

Batman stopped his kick before roughly grabbing her raised arm. For a second, Madison believed the crime fighter was going to break her limb, only for half a set of handcuffs to be thrown onto her wrist. Dragging the girl behind him, Batman stated, "You better hope whatever you did to those people can be reversed." before throwing her to the waiting NGPD officers. Although several questions were asked, Batman remained silent as he flew away, almost as if her needed to be somewhere.

* * *

Jonathan was getting nervous, Madison should have been back by now. Moreover, he was getting bored, there was only so many times one could watch a recording of the news and still be entertained. On a whim, the teen changed to the regular broadcast as the news anchor appeared.

"Breaking news, Batman has captured the villain the media dubbed 'The Scarecrone'. A press release has stated that the villain received medical treatment for a few minor injuries and is currently being interrogated by detectives. We'll bring you more details as the story developes."

Jonathan stared blankly at the screen as the meaning of the words sunk in. Quickly jumping off the couch, the teen began running around the house and gathered supplies. It was a long shot, but maybe he could pull this off.

* * *

A half hour later, SWAT officers from the NGPD arrived at the Combs house. Expecting heavy resistance, the officers stayed in formation as they approached the door. Having a warrant, the lead officer motioned for the battering ram to be brought forward, the door broken down soon after. With tense movements the officers advanced into the house, weapons at the ready as each room on the first floor was cleared. As the group started moving upstairs they heard a thumping coming from one of the rooms.

Moving quicker, the officers found which room the sound originated from. Moving in to investigate, the lead officer deduced the noise was coming from the closet. Moving silently the man ensured his unit was ready before holding up three fingers and giving a silent count down. Once he reached zero, the officer yanked the door open as Jonathan Combs fell to the floor.

Immediately the officers noticed the teen's arms were tied behind his back and duck tape covered his mouth. Putting his weapon away, the man ripped the duck tape off at which point the teen began speaking, "Please tell me you have her. I didn't want to hurt anyone, but she made me mix the toxin. She found an old notebook but couldn't understand the equations, she said she'd kill me if I didn't help!"

"Easy there son, now just calm down." the lead officer said. As Jonathan got his breath the man asked, "Now is there anyone else in the house?" When Jonathan shook his head no, the man continued, "Alright, I'm going to leave one of my guys here with you while we clear the rest of the house. Once we're done with that you can tell the detectives all that you know."

Left alone with one of the SWAT officers, Jonathan smiled. His hastily constructed plan worked. Sure he threw Madison under the bus, but it wasn't like he'd miss her. It was also unlikely she'd ever get out, not with all the attention she brought with who she terrorized.

* * *

Groggily, Dana woke up, unsure how she got to the hospital. The last thing she remembered was going to the Juice Bar with Max and Melanie. The three girls were having a good time, Max and Melanie actually hitting it off and were talking about some technology thing that Dana couldn't even pretend to understand. She was about to offer to get the trio drinks when she was roughly turned around and the creep in the mask injected something into her arm.

Dana remembered screaming as her worst nightmare came to life, her secret life of being Catwoman was exposed. Her father turned his back on her, disowning her. Terry dumping her and kicking her out of his life. Max calling her a thief and saying she belonged behind bar. Selina throwing her to the wolves, not willing to risk her own freedom.

From there everything turned black as Dana folded in on herself, crying until she lost consciousness. As she became more aware, the young woman figured someone had taken her to the hospital after the attack. She also noticed her boyfriend sleeping in the guest chair. Although her throat was a little dry, Dana called out, "Wake up McGinnis."

Dana didn't bother hiding her laugh as Terry was startled awake. Seeing who woke him, Terry smiled and said, "You're up."

"I am," Dana confirmed, "what exactly happened."

"You were attacked at random by some psycho. Somehow they got a hold of some old Scarecrow Fear Toxin and decided to spread some chaos. Don't worry, the police caught them." Terry informed his girlfriend.

"Good." Dana stated, happy that everything was just a nightmare and her secret was still safe. Yawning, Dana said, "I'm still a little tired. I'm going to go back to sleep, and I'm sure you have more entertaining ways to spend your time than watching me sleep."

Terry chuckled at the joke as he stood up. "Your dad will probably be here shortly to kick me out anyway. Sweet dreams." With that Terry leaned down and kissed Dana's forehead before waving goodbye and leaving.

As she settled in for a long rest, Dana smiled. Everything just felt right.

* * *

Something felt wrong for Barbara. As she was finalizing the paperwork for the Scarecrone's arrest, her phone rang. Already knowing who it was, Barbara answered and asked, "What do you want Bruce?"

"Something is wrong here and you know it." the former Dark Knight immediately challenged.

Rolling her eyes, the Police Commissioner asked, "Is this about that Combs kid? He's already been cleared. My officers found him tied up in a way no normal person could do themselves. The kid was forced to cooperate, the girl's violent history helps his testimony."

"And this doesn't seem just a little too perfect to you?" Bruce challenged before hanging up.

Rubbing her temples, Barbara had to admit her old mentor had a point. Still, there was nothing pointing to the Combs kid being nothing more than an unwilling accomplice, nothing except her gut saying something didn't line up.

* * *

For once, everything was lining up for Jonathan. Ever since the story broke last night about the Scarecrone's attacks, he was getting an overwhelming amount of sympathy. While his name wasn't released publicly, it wasn't hard for those at his high school to connect the pieces and solve the puzzle. Now he was getting messages of apology from his past bullies and promises to being better. Even better there were plenty of girls asking if he needed some personal help. If he played his cards right he might actually lose his virginity before graduation.

"And it's all thanks to super-great-great-uncle Ragdoll." Jonathan commented to himself as he twisted his arm and wrist into an unnatural position, only possible to achieve due to being triple jointed like the villain of old.

As Jonathan was about to message one of the girls to set up some private tutoring, someone the teen didn't recognize started a new chat. Raising an eyebrow as he read, Jonathan only became more confused.

Uncle J: I saw your joke last night, it had quite the punch line. Too bad you didn't deliver it yourself...

Quickly typing a response, Jonathan replied.

JCombs: I have no idea who you are, or what you're talking about.

Uncle J: Now now kid, we both know that ain't true. I can recognize anyone related to my old friends. You my boy definitely have some Crane blood in ya.

JCombs: I don't know how else I can tell you, I'm not a Scarecrow!

Uncle J: Geese kid, no need to raise your voice. I can tell this is a bad time, so I'll leave you alone, for now.

After a minute without a reply, Jonathan thought the creep had taken the hint and moved on. That was until one last message appeared.

Uncle J: You are right about one thing, you certainly not a Scarecrow. To me, you look more like a Ghoul.

Despite the amount of confusion Jonathan currently suffered, there was one thing Jonathan knew, he was the only one getting such strange messages.

* * *

Annie stared at the phone, the number flashing across the scene. It had been a week since her fight with her "father." Since then Commissioner Gordon had helped her fill out all the required paperwork to have Annie declared her own person legally. Since then her phone had been ringing off the hook, almost all either offers for morning show interviews or individuals seeking to use her talents for their own gains. Usually the callers gave up after a few calls, but who ever this number belonged to had already tried ten times before.

Figuring she might as well get it over with, Annie answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Annie?" the voice on the other end asked.

"This is she." Annie replied, her patients already wearing thin.

"Great, I've been trying to get to you all morning." Annie was tempted to interrupt the man, but instead allowed him to continue. "Any, straight to business. My name is Andrew, along with my business partner Zack I'm a screenwriter. Right now we're in preproduction for our next feature, but have run into a budgetary concern with the studio."

"So how is this any of my concern?" Annie questioned.

"Straight to the point I see." Andrew commented, Annie could practically feel the man's smile across the phone. "You see, me and Zack prefer practical effects, it really breathes life into the movie. However the studio wants to use CGI because it's cheaper."

"So you're hoping that I would use my abilities to help you out?" Annie questioned. Honestly, the idea didn't sound too outrageous.

"Exactly," Andrew confirmed, "you help us out and I can guarantee you'll also get the lead role."

Now it was Annie's turn to smile. She supposed an interest in acting was a lingering influence from her father, but still it would be nice to one up him, "I'll need a plane ticket, but I'd love to talk about this in person."

"Already taken care of, see you later today." Andrew said. Annie continued to smile as the pair arranged the final details. Things were certainly looking up.

* * *

"Alright, that should be good." Tim Drake spoke into the microphone as he began lowering his hoverlift. Repairing the satellite dishes was boring work, but it paid well. Thankfully this was the last repair of the day and he could start on his way home once he was on the ground. Deciding to take the time to check his email, the man was surprised to see a message from Bruce Wayne in his inbox.

How long had it been since Tim was in Gotham, much less actually spoken to the man who he once considered a father. Tempted to just delete the message, it was only an accident that caused the man to open the message.

'Tim,' the message began, 'I know it's been a long time, and I know that things didn't end well between us. The old days held a lot of happiness, but also a lot of pain. I understand if you don't want to speak to me, but I think you should know that someone from the past found their happy ending.'

Intrigued, Tim continued to scroll down, his eyes widening as he recognized the face of his friend Annie, granted it looked as though she had aged to her twenties. Scrolling further down, Tim saw the image was attached to an article from some entertainment magazine, "Annie Hagen, Hollywood's Latest Scream Queen is both Beauty and the Beast."

Despite himself, Tim smiled at the news. Putting his phone away, Tim reflected on Bruce's words. He couldn't face Bruce again, not now at least. As much as he wanted to talk to Barbara again, he couldn't bring himself to go back to Gotham either. Maybe he'd try talking to Dick, he hadn't seen him since the wedding to...

Any further thoughts stopped as the hoverlift approached the ground. Taking out his phone, Tim called his wife as he started his truck. "Sorry honey, boss has me working late again." As the truck sped down the road a single though went through Tim's head, he had work to do.

* * *

Wow, 24 pages...somehow it feels like more.

So a lot happened. Catwoman had her heist, Batman meet a friend of Bruce's and fought some old enemies. Despite all that happened, there are still a few questions. Questions such as...

How long will Dana's secret remain safe?

Who is Uncle J?

What work is Tim doing?

These questions and more will be answered in the coming chapters of The Bat and The Cat, but until then, here's acw28 saying, "Until next update."


	4. Revelations

**Hey everyone, it's acw28 back with another chapter of ** _ **The Bat and the Cat** _ **!**

**So yeah, it's been awhile. It feels like I type this a lot, but I'm sorry for having such a large gap between updates. Unfortunately real life keeps eating up what little spare time I have. Another complication to this matter is that a few other stories have held my attention. Most of my work is still published over on fanfiction.net, but I'm slowly uploading it over here to have a complete archive. On this site I've got stories focused on _RWBY_, _X-Men: Evolution, Avatar, _and the webcomic _Erma. _If any of those fandoms strike your interest, feel free to check out those stories.**

**Now with that self-plug out of the way, let's move onto the new chapter. Fair warning, this chapter is probably going to be a bit different than the rest of the story, but it's something I've been itching to write for the past few months. As always, I hope everyone enjoys it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ** _ **Batman Beyond** _ **, or any other franchise.**

* * *

It was a rarity in Neo-Gotham, a quiet night. The Dark Knight had long since finished his patrol and had retreated into his cave. The Feline Thief hadn't been sighted since her success against the Yakuza holdouts weeks ago. The Jokers and the T's were staying in their respective hideouts, neither wanting to make a big move and draw attention to themselves since the Scarecrone incidents. No doubt each gang was in the midst of planning something, but for now the city enjoyed the peace.

That wasn't to say that the entire city was asleep. A lone man causally wandered down the sidewalk, lifting a glass bottle to his lips every now and again. As the wind began to pickup, he pulled his coat tighter against his body, mentally cursing the weather bots for once more glitching out and not getting the forecast right. Soon the gale began growing in strength, from tossing a few stray papers around to posing a challenge to the man to continue walking. With it feeling increasingly like a tornado forming in the middle of the city, the man couldn't help but think that things were going to reach a breaking point. He was right, as he was blinded by a flash of white a literal second before feeling something slam into him and take him to the ground.

Once he regained his vision, the man found himself pinned beneath a warm body. With a quick shove he was able to free himself and ask, "Hey buddy, you alright?" When he did receive a reply from the stranger, the man took a glance over to find a younger man, maybe in his mid-twenties with shaggy red hair that reached his shoulders. As far as clothing went, the stranger was only covered by a pair of ripped red pants that looked more like tights. Wandering aloud, the man asked, "Just where did you come from?" He then eyed his bottle before quickly tossing it away. That was enough drinking for now, right now the man needed to call an ambulance.

* * *

Barbara was beginning to think she should request the city install a second office for her in Neo-Gotham General, it was almost sad how much time she'd had to spend in the hospital while working cases. While they were held for a few weeks for additional testing, both Jefferson and Tan would make a full recovery. The Scarecrone, as the media dubbed her, wasn't as fortunate. The broken arm wasn't too bad, but with the contraption she wore on it the break resulted in some complications and lasting nerve damage. Her broken nose also hadn't healed right either, now looking rather crooked. Despite herself, Barbara smiled at that, while Bruce was right that the case didn't feel completely right, the girl had certainly been a willing participant in the scheme and got what she deserved from the universe, especially for emulating someone like the Scarecrow.

But that case was over with, now the Commissioner had to deal with a new headache. A John Doe, about 23 from the doctor's estimates. Usually this kind of assignment was something that would be pushed onto a beat cop, but when the doctor's took a blood sample their systems immediately hit upon a very special list, one that mandated the doctors look no further into the man's identity and contact her immediately. Given how territorial Bruce was in his last years under the mask, and with the League on the other side of the world, that meant one thing, a legacy that decided to stretch their legs and picked the worst city to do so. Arriving at the man's room, the woman knocked, hearing a garbled reply that she took to mean she could come in.

Having already read the preliminary report, Commissioner Gordon didn't find any surprises when she saw a man wearing a hospital gown sitting in the bed. She wasn't surprised at his red hair, which had been cut to a more manageable length. She did raise an eyebrow at seeing the three empty trays siting on the table while the stranger worked his way through the fourth, despite the IV stuck in his arm. However what made her stop in her tracks, if only for a split second, was the man's green eyes.

Afterall, it wasn't every day Barbara met a dead man.

Quickly regaining her composure, Barbara began by stating, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but I have a few for you as well."

"Actually, I'm just happy to be alive." The man replied with a smile before joking, "And I think I should get a lawyer before answering any questions."

Barbara answered with a glare, saying, "This isn't a laughing matter. Your blood tripped the alert in the system, you might be powered but that doesn't give you license to screw around in my city."

"Woah, woah, woah," the red head tried to interrupt, waving his hands, "who said anything about powers?"

Barbara ignored him as she finished, "It's like clockwork with you legacies. Every five years you come to Neo-Gotham not understanding how things work or the danger, creating more work for my men to sweep your mistakes under the rug. Although you're not a typical legacy, are you Mr. West?" At seeing the man pale, the commissioner finished by asking, "Perhaps I should have introduced myself first, I'm Commissioner Gordon, and you would be Wally West."

The room was silent for several tense moments as the man digested everything. Finally, in a small voice, Wally asked, "Barbara?" when the woman nodded, the man laid back, his face growing paler as he stated, "I'd really like that lawyer now."

In reply Barbara gave a small nod before leaving the room. As she closed the door, she could guess the series of events that was soon to happen, and honestly she was fine with that. The kid was Bruce's responsibility now, she'd long ago left that life behind.

* * *

It felt like an eternity, but Wally patiently waited for five minutes once he'd been left alone. After yanking the IV out of his arm, the man quietly opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, nobody giving any extra mind to yet another person walking around in a hospital gown, yet these clothes certainly weren't going to cut it on the street. Soon Wally found the room he was looking for, the staff locker room. If he had the patience, he could probably pick the lock, but then again shaking the handle up and down at incredible speed tended to set, or break, the tumblers as well. After a quick peak to make sure the coast was clear, the speedster slipped into the locker room unnoticed.

While still nowhere near Dick's level of disguise, Wally still felt pretty proud of himself. The gown was soon replaced with some red scrubs. The nurse shoes were a little uncomfortable, but he wasn't exactly planning on running any time soon. Lastly was the part the hero felt a little guilty about as he searched through a few wallets. He wasn't proud, but he needed at least some money for bus fare. He did try to minimize his impact, only taking a few cards, which apparently had replaced paper money, from the wallet with the fattest stack.

With everything accounted for, Wally was now ready to get home, no one stopping him as he walked out the front doors of the hospital.

After an extremely long wait for the bus, seriously why was everything slower than usual, Wally was able to board the vehicle and began to plan as he rode it to the end of the line. It had felt like he'd been running constantly for the last two years, but apparently it had been much longer for everyone else. Wally did have a stray thought, curious if Barbara was still in the life, but quickly refocused himself. Time moved linearly, meaning if he found a way home he'd create a time loop. Someone would tell him what needed to be done so he could return to his own time, then when he got home he'd share his discovery with them so they could share it with him in the future. Honestly it was fairly theoretical and gave Wally a headache if he thought too much about it, but right now he just wanted to go home.

Soon the bus came to the last stop outside what people referred to as "old Gotham", from there Wally began walking to the person most likely to have the answer. Barbara had dropped some big hints he was in Gotham, and that Batman was still around. So, it seemed rather obvious that the speedster needed to visit the world's greatest detective.

With the low amount of traffic in the area, Wally soon found the "service road" Nightwing had shared with him the second year of their friendship. As he walked up the dirt path, he couldn't help but think if Wayne was still kickin' he'd be much too old to be wearing the suit. So then who was Batman? Did Bruce actually manage to settle down and have some kids, or did Dick get promoted to the legendary role of Caped Crusader? As he came to the waterfall, Wally banished those thoughts from his head. Running through the water fast enough to stay dry? Child's play. Knowing about the solid mountain behind it? Well Wally's powerset didn't include being a psychic. A quick look up revealed the hidden entrance to the Batcave to be a few hundred feet above him. Now running up a vertical surface? Again, child's play.

Walking down what could only be described as a runway, Wally couldn't help but whistle at seeing the new Batmobile. "Now that is certainly a nice ride." When he didn't hear a reply, the speedster strolled over to the main area of the cave, calling out, "Hey, if it's alright for me to use the super computer, don't say anything!" When he was met with silence, the young man grinned at pulled up a seat, commenting to himself, "Is it just me, or did Bruce decide to redecorate with a retro finish?"

As the Batcomputer began booting up, Wally began tapping his finger against the arm rest as he waited impatiently. With how distracted the hero was, Wally didn't realize he wasn't alone until he heard the vicious barking. Turning to his left, Wally could admit he was slightly fearful at seeing the large Great Dane and Doberman mix growling at the red head, displaying some rather sharp teeth. Quickly holding up his hands to show he wasn't a threat, Wally tried to further calm down the dog by saying, "Easy now Bat-hound, there's no need for anyone to get hurt."

"I'll have to disagree with you." A voice from Wally's other side stated. Before he realized what had happened, Wally was sucker punched out of the chair, rolling along the floor past the dog. Getting back to his feet, Wally regarded the figure in front of him. With the ears and the symbol, it could be no one other than Batman, even if the bat was red. Still, the crimefighter's voice and physical statue just weren't what the speedster expected.

Rubbing away the pain in his jaw, Wally asked, "Who gave you permission to play dress up? You're what, sixteen? Why don't you go grab Dick or Tim and let the adults talk?"

"Those two don't live here," the teen replied, "the only person you need to be talking to is me. You can start by telling me how you got in here." As he began the interrogation, Batman launched three bataranges at the intruder.

Sighing, Wally sidestepped the weapons. Was he seriously this bad when he was a teenager? If so, he owes his parents, Uncle Berry, and especially Artemis a lifetime of apologies. Idly plucking the last batarange out of the air, Wally looked it over as he commented, "Interesting change in design." He then threw the projectile with such speed that it whizzed past Batman's ear, imbedding itself into the cave wall. "Now I'll ask one more time before I school you. Where are Dick and Tim?"

As Bat Jr. and his mutt settled into fighting stances, Wally prepared to do the same thing, only for an intimidating voice from the top of the stairs to call out, "Both of you, stop this right now!" Immediately Batman stood straight, Wally copying his actions as the dog finally relaxed and started walking to the stairs. For a few moments a soft click echoed throughout the cave as the figure descended the staircase. When the old man finally reached the bottom of the steps, Wally easily recognized him as Bruce Wayne, even if he was hunched over with a cane and had _a lot _more wrinkles.

Still, the hero was just glad to see a familiar face as he called out, "Hi Mister Wayne, I guess you weren't expecting visitors."

"No, I wasn't." Bruce sharply replied as he moved towards the Batcomputer, shoving Wally out of the way as he said, "It's not every day a dead man walks into my cave like he owns it."

Shocked, Wally could only mumble, "What?"

Bruce didn't even look at the speedster as he took his seat, "Wally West died in his sleep five years ago."

Time stopped for Wally as those word began to repeat themselves in his mind. As their full effect began to sink in, Wally panicked, and then he ran.

* * *

Once left alone, Batman commented, "He's going to be back."

"Of course he will be."

Knowing he'd get nothing else out of the old man, Batman said, "Well, I guess I should go through the old rogues files if we're going to beat him."

"Take a break on the files. Take off the suit and work on your physical conditioning." Bruce ordered from his chair, pulling up a series of complicated number Batman couldn't make sense of. "And we're not going to be fighting the kid, we're going to help him."

* * *

'Alright, just got to get home and get my head together.' Wally told himself as he ran out of Gotham. He could have turned West and gone to Palo Alto, but while he had a house with Artemis in that city, his heart only belonged in one place. So, Wally kept running East, back to Central City.

Believing himself to be alone, the speedster was shocked to hear someone call out to him, "Hey kid! If you don't slow down, you're going to trip!" A glance to his left, and Wally saw himself, but also not himself. The man had a few decades on Wally, his red hair was the same shade and length and the pair shared the same eyes. But Wally didn't have as prominent a chin, and he'd never warn the Flash's suit.

As Wally's brain tried to make sense of everything, the stranger's prediction came true as the younger speedster felt something graze against his toes before his momentum sent him stumbling. He could hear the older man yell out "told ya!" as he began skidding to a stop.

Rubbing his sore head, Wally propped himself up as he wondered aloud, "Okay, just what is going on?" He then looked around, seeing a vaguely familiar skyline the prompted him to add, "Central City? There's no way I got here already." He then shifted his attention to that which was closer around him. "A graveyard? Just wonderful." With how the day was going, Wally really shouldn't have been surprised at seeing just who's grave his stood in front of. Still, as he read the words out loud, he felt his heart speed up. "Wally West, Husband and Father, Hero."

The world slowed down for Wally as he just stood there. It looked like his time loop hypothesis was wrong. So then just how could he get home? The young man found himself distracted from these thoughts when a feminine voice called out from behind him, "Now this is something I have not seen in five years." Turning to get a look at who was talking to him, Wally felt his heart rate drop dangerously low, "You don't look completely like _my _Wally, but you certainly have his eyes."

It wasn't what the woman said that made the speedster agitated. Even though she wore regular clothes, he recognized her red hair and green tinged skin. As a million thoughts went through Wally's head, one stood out from the rest.

'Just what was my alternate self thinking when he married Poison Ivy?'

* * *

The walk to the West household was uneventful, but that didn't make Wally feel any better. Once past the front door the villainess had steered the young man to the dining room before mixing something in the kitchen. Shortly, the woman set down a cup of what Wally could only assume to be tea mixed with several types of poisons and pheromones. But before the speedster could ask what was in the blend, the house phone rang, leading to Ivy having a rather long and personal conversation.

"You know I love you, and I support all your decisions, but I can't get you those compounds. Alright, I wish you luck and I hope you'll remember to visit." Hanging up the phone, the woman explained, "My grandson, he's trying to make his own way in life but is going about it with an overcomplicated plan." At noticing Wally had yet to touch his drink, the woman rolled her eyes and stated, "I'm not trying to kill you, and even if I did poison it your metabolism would burn it out of your body before any lasting damage happened."

"Right, and just how do you know this?" Wally asked, slowly brining the cup up for a sip.

"Well my husband was always exposing himself to something much more toxic, and he always came out of it with a smile on his face." And now Wally fought not to spit out the admittedly good drink.

After ensuring that he'd swallowed all of the drink, Wally asked the first thing that popped into his head, "How did that even work? No offense but where I'm from you and Harley Quinn…" Quickly recognizing this wasn't an appropriate conversation, Wally let the sentence drop.

Only for Ivy to finish it, "Are something between friends with benefits and lovers?" She then shrugged her shoulders as she answered, "I honestly can't explain it. I had a connection to her, but I also had a connection to Wally. We both knew the other would be there for them, so we really don't see the need to be jealous if the other had someone else as well."

"Interesting, but not really my cup of tea." Wally commented before asking, "So I'm just going to say it, how did you even meet, well, me?"

"It must have been either the fifth or sixth time the world was invaded by aliens." Ivy began, "After my plan in Dakota failed, I was locked in Arkham once more. I was tending to the garden when the invasion started and several of Darkseid's minions crashed into the greenhouse. Naturally I disposed of them."

"Naturally." Wally sarcastically agreed.

Ignoring the man, Ivy continued, "Seeing as I had technically helped in the fight I was granted a pardon for my past crimes. Of course no one in Gotham had forgotten just what I was capable of, so my paperwork had the stipulation that I couldn't reside in the city." Looking down at her hands, Wally noted that the woman shuttered just slightly, as if recalling some bad memories, "I was actually alright with that, some events had occurred that made living in the city less bearable. So I took the first bus out of the city and ended up here."

"So then where does Wally West fit into the story?" Wally asked, now wishing for a second cup of whatever he'd been given.

"At the time the only place that would hire me was the park to be the landscaper. Wally worked in the crime lab nearby and often had his lunch in the park. One day he noticed me and made it his mission to become my friend. I was fine with my isolation, but decided to humor the man, and I'm glad I did." The woman smiled as she finished her recollection, "Of course later I learned about his trip to an alternate dimension and meeting a lobotomized version of me. I guess he remembered her and didn't want to see me alone. He truly wanted to be my friend with no ulterior motive, but the fool ended up falling for me."

Despite the tone of the story, Wally couldn't help but snort and comment, "Something tells me it wasn't all sunshine and roses when you learned about him being the Flash."

"I was a little angry." Ivy admitted, "mostly I was just relieved he wouldn't die every time I kissed him. Are you finished with your drink?" Surprised by the sudden shift in the conversation, Wally held up his long empty cup, prompting the woman to nod her head and say, "Then you should have enough energy for this."

"For what?" Wally ask, confused once more.

"To talk to my husband and find your way home."

* * *

As Ivy refused to answer any more questions, Wally was left in the dark once more as he was led around the house. Down the basement stairs and through three doors, and the speedster could say he felt a little underwhelmed at seeing a treadmill that looked like it had come from the _Jetsons_. Speaking up, the man said, "I'm not expert, but don't we need something else to contact the spirits? I don't know, maybe a crystal ball or Ouija Board?"

"I take it this was your first time in the Speed Force?" Ivy asked. When she received a blank look, the lady continued, "Of course it is." She then began her explanation as she led Wally towards the treadmill, "As you've noticed there are multiple universes, some with small changes while others are drastic. A few men are smart enough to create artificial bridges between universes, meanwhile natural connections exist. The Speed Force is once such connection."

"And what is that exactly?" Wally asked as he was helped into some sort of harness.

"In essence, it's what allows you and all other Speedsters to run so fast." Wally was about to explain his lab accident, only for Ivy to cut him off, "Yes, I know. You got your powers in a lab explosion, but others got their powers due to being struck by lightening or because of genetics. The beginning doesn't matter, it's only the catalyst that allows you to access the Speed Force."

"Given that you were married to, well me, I'll assume all of that's correct, but how does that help with talking to the dead?" Wally asked as he tightened a strap across his chest.

As she inspected Wally's work, Ivy said, "Speedsters are special, for lack of a better term. You all spend so much of your life connected to the Speed Force that once you die some of you return to it, for a time at least." For some reason this kind of talk reminded Wally a lot about Kent Nelson and the headache that Nabu caused.

Satisfied with the straps, the woman walked to the other side of the room, grabbing an extremely thick cable that she promptly hooked onto the harness, "If a speedster is able to enter the Speed Force, they are able to talk to the spirits that inhabit it."

"Alright, so how do I get there?" Wally asked before he joked, "Do I have to go fast?"

"Yes." Ivy answered in complete seriousness. "While he was alive, my husband always pushed himself to go faster. Before he met me, he'd entered the Speed Force once. Evidently he'd saved the world but almost didn't survive. The second time he'd entered the Speed Force I didn't see him for a month, but eventually he found a reliable way to return." Ivy then started heading back towards the exit as she finished, "He'll be able to explain things better, just be sure to keep the cable taunt so you can pull yourself out."

Now left alone, Wally debated what to do. He accepted science couldn't explain everything, but even this seemed a little out there, not to mention dangerous. "Well nothing ventured, nothing gained." the man told himself as he stepped onto the treadmill. A few steps forward and the device began to move. As Wally began a light jog he could see a few sparks as the parts of the machine really began to get moving. Now he began to run, legs moving as fast as they did two years ago, then he pushed himself further.

Suddenly Wally's vision turned white. A quick look down revealed his hands, meaning he wasn't blind. "Guess the Speed Force does exist after all." Wally commented to no one in particular.

"Of course it does, would me or the Mrs. ever lie to you?" Wally's doubleganger asked as he ran alongside the man.

"Well I didn't exactly expect Poison Ivy to be the most truthful person." Wally defended himself.

"Oh come on," the older Wally exclaimed, "practically every Wally West has a relationship with a villainess, or villain, at some point in time. And about half of us end up marrying them."

After a few seconds, Wally admitted, "My girlfriend wasn't exactly squeaky clean when I first met her, and she was working undercover as Tigress for a while."

"Ha ha, knew it!" Older Wally laughed as he raised a fist in victory, "Earth-52 Wally's taking 20 years of my service!" The phantom then asked, "So what else is your world like? Does Roy Harper call himself Speedy, Red Arrow, or Arsenal?"

"Roy was Speedy, but then he started going by Red Arrow. Then it turns out he's always been a clone and the real Roy goes by Arsenal." Wally explained.

"Clones, glad I never had to deal with them in my time, although there was that one time Bat's almost got replaced by a robot..." Older Wally commented before shaking his head, "We're getting off track, we should be focusing on getting you home."

"Right," Wally agreed before gesturing to the harness and asking, "So if I understand everything, shouldn't I just take off this harness and run home?"

"And do you know how to navigate a near infinite amount of realities?" the older Wally asked. When the still living Wally didn't answer, the man smirked and said, "Again, knew it. Your best bet is to head back to Neo-Gotham and have Bruce help you out, he's probably nearly found your home dimension."

"Of course he has, because he's Batman." Wally commented before asking, "So, any last minute tips? And just how do I get out of here?"

"I mentioned the parallels earlier didn't I? Old Bruce should know what to share with you without ripping apart the space time continuum. To get out of here, you'll need to pull yourself out. Once you get back home you'll need an anchor, not a physical one mind you but just someone important to you that lets you pull yourself back." The phantom Wally quickly explained, adding, "Other than that, just have fun."

His wisdom shared, the older Wally speed off, leaving the young man to pull himself out of the Speed Force. Hopefully when he gets out of here Ivy will have some more tea ready, he'd like a drink before heading back to Gotham, he'd been away from home for far too long.

* * *

As Terry was running through the gymnastics course again, Bruce kept his focus on the Bat Computer. Still, unlike his apprentice he wasn't caught unaware when Wally West raced back into the Batcave. Not bothering to look up, the elderly man stated, "About time you came back."

"Needed to do some soul searching." Wally answered, "Older me says hi by the way." The Speedster then looked at the super computer and asked, "So, found my Yellow Brick Road yet?"

"Just about." Bruce confirmed, "Just have to let the machine warm up." He then heard Terry finish up the course and called over his shoulder, "Pack up McGinnis, you're taking a trip."

"What? How come?" the teen asked as he walked towards the pair, Wally taking note of his black hair and blue eyes.

"Wally's adventure here was unexpected, but in the end he asked for our help. It's our responsibility to see this through." Bruce explained as he opened up another window on the Batcomputer. "I'll inform your school I've arranged for you to attend a leadership conference, you'll need to inform your mother and girlfriend."

"Gee, and things were starting to get back to normal with Dana." Terry commented as he collected his stuff, knowing better than to try and argue with Bruce.

Once left alone in the cave, Wally commented aloud, "I know I'm in an alternate universe and everything, but I've seen quite a few photos of my universe's Bruce. Funny thing, you actually look quite alike, and you two certainly looked a lot like your father."

Knowing what the Speedster was hinting at, Bruce asked, "Do you have Cadmus in your universe?"

"Yeah, gave us quite a few headaches but some good friends." Wally answered, not seeing why the old man tried to sidetrack the conversation.

"Then you have your answer." Bruce replied simply before glaring at the man and stating, "And you know better than to bring it up with the kid."

"Right." Wally shakily answered as he gulped in fear. Seriously, how could old Bruce Wayne be more terrifying than Batman? Trying to get the conversation back to a safe area, Wally mentioned, "So, ghost me mentioned something about parallels?"

In reply, Bruce hit a few keys on the Batcomputer, causing a flash drive to eject from the main console. Throwing the device toward the Speedster, the man explained, "Here's a list of everything you can know without causing a paradox or destroying your universe. The main ones are that Terra will betray you. If you run into dimensional doublegangers calling themselves Justice Lords, fight them. Also if I'm still sleeping with Talia I need to stop and get Damian away from the woman." The man then stopped typing, his head dropping down as he finished, "On a more personal note, keep Tim Drake safe."

"Something happen to Robin?" Wally asked.

"One of my greatest failures." Bruce admitted, "One that I do not wish to see repeated."

Wally could only nod at that, hoping he'd be able to meet the old man's expectations.

* * *

It was about an hour later when Terry walked back into the cave, wearing his casual clothes with the Batsuit no doubt stored in his duffle bag. As he walked down the stairs he called over to duo, "My mom's excited about all the opportunities my job's creating. Dana's pissed that I have to reschedule a date so soon after getting back together." He paused to throw a bundle of clothes at Wally, no doubt some jeans, shirt and a hoodie that would not be missed, "At least Melanie swooped in to cheer her up with a girl's night."

"I'm not sure if I'd trust a former thief around those close to me." Bruce commented as he stood up from the Batcomputer and started walking towards his vault.

"Hey, didn't you date Catwoman, repeatedly?" Terry asked, defending his new friend.

Bruce stopped so suddenly Terry was afraid he'd given the man a heart attack. His fear doubled as Bruce gave a brief chuckled. Just as Terry was about to order Wally to check for a Joker Gas leak, Bruce regained his composure and replied, "I guess you have me there." He then opened up a drawer and stated, "Back to the mater at hand, you'll need this for your trip to Wally's universe."

At seeing the small, rectangular object, Terry asked in disbelief, "Is that a…?"

"It is." Bruce confirmed.

Greatly annoyed, Wally called out, "Hey, why don't you two explain what you're so amazed at to the one guy who doesn't know a thing?"

"It's a Mother Box." Bruce explained, "A living computer that is capable of just about everything from opening Boom Tubes to serving as a translator."

"Oh yeah, Connor might have mentioned something like that before." Wally said, trying to save himself from further embarrassment.

"Must not have had much interaction with New Genesis or Apokolips yet." Bruce mumbled to himself as he walked back to the Batcomputer. He then addressed the other two heroes as he activated the portal and said, "I'll monitor things on this end, you two get moving."

With a nod Wally and Terry started walking towards the portal. As they neared the device, Terry asked, "So, you ready for this?"

"Yeah," Wally replied, "I think it's about time for me to go home."

* * *

Terry knew he'd be walking into a technologically ancient world as soon as he stepped through the portal. Still, he wasn't expecting to find himself standing beside a two lane road with cornfields on either side. "It's almost like I'm in Smallville." The teen commented to himself before he turned to his traveling companion, the Speedster having already changed into the borrowed clothes with the hood hiding his face. "So where to first?"

"I probably should let me parents know I'm alive." Wally began, "But there's someone I need to talk to before that." He finished with a smirk.

"I figured as much." Terry stated with a smile of his own. Pulling out the Mother Box, the teen asked the computer, "Hey Mother Box," when the machine's lights blinked twice, the boy asked, "Could we get a portal to Artemis Crock's house?" As the portal opened up, Wally was going to ask how Terry knew that name but figured Old Bruce had already briefed him on everything.

Stepping out of the portal revealed a much more developed neighborhood. As the two stood in front of the house, Terry commented, "Nice place she got for herself, maybe a little big."

"Yeah, it is." Wally agreed, not exactly liking the implication.

When neither one made a move, Terry asked, "Well? Aren't you going to knock on the door?"

"I guess I should." Wally agreed as he slowly walked forward. He seemed to slow down as he walked up the steps and onto the porch. As he stood in front of the door, the Speedster froze with his hand near the door before he suddenly turned around and started walking away.

Terry was quick to intercept the man before Wally left the porch, "What are you doing?"

"Do the math." Wally said, "It's been two years and she lives in a house bigger than what she needs. She's moved on, I don't have the right to insert myself back into her life."

"I didn't cancel on my girlfriend and travel to a different dimension just for you to get cold feet." Terry hissed, "Let's double check your math." Before Wally could stop him, Terry had already shoved past the man and knocked loudly on the door.

A few moments later the door opened. Despite what he said, Wally felt some anger when he saw a tired, breaded and slightly older Roy Harper, the clone not the original, ask, "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Terry didn't miss a beat as he said, "Late. We're looking for Artemis Crock."

Wally had to give it to Roy, he hardly reacted save for a raised eyebrow as he replied, "She's not in right now, try again in the morning."

Evidently Terry had learned a lot from Bruce. The teen quickly shoved his foot in the doorway before Roy could close the door. "See, something tells me that's not exactly the truth." Pushing all his weight against the door, Terry was able to force it open as Roy stumbled back. "So I'll ask again, could you please get Ms. Crock?"

From the way Roy's eyes were darting around, Wally could tell a fight was about to happen. Before anyone could make a move, the group heard loud barking before a white pit bull charged out the door and pounced on Wally. As the dog started to lick Wally's face, his hood fell off. The red head didn't pay this any mind as he started scratching the dog's ears while saying, "Hi Brucely, I missed you too."

As much as he would have enjoyed a few more moments with his dog, Wally was brought back to reality when Roy called out and asked, "Wally?"

The smile never left the Speedster's face as he answered, "Hi Roy, it's been awhile, hasn't it?"

The stunned man just looked at his friend for a moment before stepping aside, "Get inside, both of you. I can already tell this is going to take some time to explain." He then started walking into the house as he called over his shoulder, "And it's Will now."

Once everyone had settled back in the living room, Brucely refusing to leave Wally's side, Will started, "I swear if you turn out to be a clone,"

Wally was quick to interrupt his friend, "Relax Roy, sorry, Will. I'm me."

"Then how are you here?" the archer questioned. "The world knows that Kid Flash died two years ago stopping the Reach."

"Best I can tell the energy supercharged the cells of my body, forced me into a space between dimensions that had me running for two years straight." Wally explained.

"Yeah, that's what the Old Man came up with as well." Terry supplied, earning him a look from Will.

"I'm sorry, who are you again?" the older man asked.

Not exactly sure what was safe to share, and not trusting the teen to not accidently spill something, Wally quickly answered, "The Bruce in the dimension I ended up in is long retired. This is his successor." Wanting to quickly change subjects, Wally's eyes wondered around the room until he noticed a photo of Will wearing an interesting uniform. "Bowhunter Security? What's that about?"

"That's kinda Jade's doing." Will confessed. "After finding Roy I wanted to focus on being a good father, but I didn't exactly have many markable skills. She suggested if I couldn't find a job, I should make one. Some startup money from Oliver, and here I am."

"So Cheshire still around then?" Wally asked, not realizing he'd said something wrong until Will looked down.

Thankfully the men were saved from trying to salvage the awkward conversation when they heard someone walking down the stairs. As he was expected another archer, Wally was slightly shocked as a young girl with auburn hair wearing pink pajamas walking into the living room while rubbing her eyes.

Will was seemingly used to it as he said, "Lian it's late, let's get you back to bed."

"Can't sleep, heard voices." The girl replied before looking at Wally and Terry and sleepily asked, "Who you?"

"Lian, this is Wally, from your aunt's stories. This is a friend of his." Will explained as he gently tried to steer his daughter back to the stairs.

Lian stayed rooted as she looked at Wally and asked, "Auntie Mouse's boyfriend?" Believing he'd make some smart ass comment, Wally just nodded his head. This prompted the girl to ask, "You came back to be with Auntie Mouse?" When Wally again nodded, the Lian turned to her father and asked, "Mommy come back soon?"

"Maybe one day." Will replied as he picked his daughter up in his arms. As he walked towards the stairs, he stated, "But right now you need to get back to bed."

"Can Uncle Wally come?" the girl asked, shocking the room.

Wally quickly recovered and answered, "Sure, just remember I'm the best uncle." The comment earned a laugh from the girl, getting everyone in the room to smile.

* * *

As he watched from the doorway Wally couldn't help but wonder if the world hadn't come close to ending if he'd have something similar to this with Artemis. Trying to distract himself from such thoughts, the Speedster wondered the second floor, eventually finding another bedroom. This one was sparsely decorated, containing only a bed, a bookshelf with a number of textbooks, and an old but familiar photo. As he sat on the bed to reminisce, Wally was soon joined by Brucely, the dog carrying an odd toy.

"Hey, you found me." Wally noted as he tried to take the Kid Flash toy away, only for the pit bull to refuse to let go.

"His favorite toy, tends to sleep with it most nights. Artemis got it for him after." Will quickly stopped what he was about to say, instead he walked into the room and said, "Looks like you found Artemis' room."

"Yeah. Where is she anyway, hot date tonight?" Wally attempted to joke, and felt himself die a little.

In response, Will shook his head. "She hasn't been on a date in a long time Wally." Will explained, "A year ago, Paula tried to get her to go out but Artemis refused. She hasn't gotten over you Wally, I don't know if she's able to." At hearing this, Wally huffed as he threw himself onto the bed, prompting his host to ask, "You alright there? I thought you'd be happy to know that."

"Part of me is," Wally confessed, "which makes me feel guilty. It's been two years, there was no way of knowing I could ever comeback. If I were gone for good, I don't want her holding onto a ghost from the past, I'd want her to be happy." Trying to shift to a topic that caused less conflicting feelings, Wally asked, "If she doesn't have a date, just where is the love of my life?"

"Dick's been recruiting." Will stated, which actually answered a lot. "I didn't think he'd form a new team after Antarctica, but he, Artemis and Connor have been mentoring some new comers to the life. They have a mission tonight, but no one shared the details or how they got the intel."

That last bit didn't sit right with Wally. Despite being Batman's protégé, Dick had a tendency to overshare. Sure he kept some secrets, but never anything mission related. Rushing back downstairs, he saw Terry trying to figure out how to use the tv remote. As entertaining as the sight may be, the man now had a mission of his own. As such he ordered the teen, "Suit up, we've got some intelligence to gather."

The teenage Batman didn't even question the Speedster as he grabbed his Batsuit.

* * *

Mother Box had opened a portal near an airport tarmac, behind the group Nightwing and Tigress were leading. Thankfully the other heroes were too distracted as the red head in the green jumpsuit raised his arms, causing spikes to erupt from the ground and stop the plane from taking off. As Wally and the future Batman watched the other group charge into the hanger, the teenage crime fighter asked, "This normal?"

"Not really." Wally admitted, "I have no clue about the alien, the girl, or the new guy, but Black Lightening should be with the Justice League. Tigress should be with the rest of the Team, and Nightwing's backup should be either Superboy or Miss Martian, maybe Robin or Beast Boy if things are stretched thin." Trying to think of an answer, he asked, "Can you tell who they're fighting?"

"Let's see." Batman said as he switched between his optic lens options to zoom into the hanger, "Black Lightening is up against Livewire, Nightwing is up against someone who can turn their body to vapor, the newbies look to be up against Shade judging by those shadows." He then switched to X-Ray vision as he said, "Inside the plane, which your girlfriend is trying to break into, is a doctor and a woman holding a Sai."

'As weird as it is, Cheshire is probably my best bet for answers.' Wally thought to himself before ordering Batman, "Keep Tigress busy for a few minutes, I need to have a chat with someone." Not waiting for a response, Wally ran forward. Using the spike as a ramp, the man launched himself upward towards the cockpit. 'I really hope this works!' Wally yelled to himself as he began vibrating his molecules. To his surprise, he actually passed harmlessly through the glass and metal. Landing crouched on the floor, Wally quickly wiped under his nose, smiling as his hand came back clean, mentally cheering, 'Yes! No more nosebleeds!'

* * *

Batman watched all of this happen in the span of five seconds. After giving a low whistle, the crimefighter commented, "Okay, that was pretty schway." He then noticed Tigress was close to breaking the lock on the plane's door and told himself, "Guess it's time for me get to work." as he switched the suit to stealth mode and disappeared into the night.

* * *

Cheshire thought nothing much could surprise her anymore. Her little sister becoming a hero? Weird but relatively normal for her family. Falling in love with a clone and starting a family? Unexpected but not unwelcome. And yet she didn't know what to make of the swirl of colors that encapsulated Doctor Moon. Even with her training the strange phenomenon had snuck up on the assassin, she'll just blame the fatigue from having the bullet taken out of her shoulder with only local anesthetics.

Soon enough the color's stopped, revealing Doctor Moon unconscious on the floor and a dead man waving at her. As if things couldn't get worse, the Wally West look-a-like called out, "Hey future sister-in-law, miss me?"

Seeing that the Speedster wasn't about to fight her, Jade relaxed and leaned against the operating table as she said, "So this is the Light's next big play? Cloning again? Because that worked out so well last time."

Wally pouted as he asked, "Why does everyone assume I'm a clone? Just ask your husband when you get home, assuming you actually go home after this."

Looking down, Jade stated, "Will and Lian deserve better than me. Not to mention if I turn back up one of your friends will be along shortly to turn me in."

Wally fired back by stating, "I'm pretty sure that's up to them to decide. One of the first things Lian asked me was if you were coming back. As for the criminal part," her the man jerked his thumb towards the outside, "how much you want to bet Nightwing will arrange some sort of special program for those three? Plus I'm fairly certain the League still has it's open pardon policy."

While Jade could see the sense in the argument she fired back, "It's not just the heroes I have to worry about. I burned enough bridges the first time I left the Shadows, they won't be happy if I try to do it again."

Again, Wally had a rebuttal, "If two archers and a Speedster backing up an assassin doesn't make you feel safe than what will? Monitoring by Batman? Babysitting with Superman?" As he gave Jade time to process his question, Wally added, "Life can be dangerous, but it's easier to deal with things together." He then heard the door begin to open, "Speaking of which, do you mind distracting your sister for half a minute? Thanks." The Speedster didn't wait for a response as he zoomed back to the cockpit, literally running through the door.

Moments later Tigress walked into view. At seeing her sister relaxing against the operating table and Doctor Moon knocked unconscious on the ground, the young woman took off her mask and declared, "I've got two questions and one statement. Who is running the Shadows? And from where?"

Holding her shoulder as the pain flared up, Jade answered with a smirk, "You know, I always saw myself as a freelancer. I didn't have to follow as many rules, but I wasn't told everything. I honestly don't know who runs the shadows, but I do know they're based on Santa Prisca. Happy?"

"Ecstatic." Artemis deadpanned.

Knowing she'd have to take the lead in the conversation, Jade asked, "How is Lian doing?"

"And that brings me to my statement." Artemis replied before yelling, "Go see your kid!"

Jade chuckled at that, "Funny, you're the second person to tell me that tonight." She noticed the shadows on the floor begin to act strangely. Standing away from the operating table, she walked over to a small table to collect her mask. "You know, I would ask you to hug my daughter for me, but something tells me you're going to be too busy."

Artemis was going to ask what her sister meant, only to see a blur rush through the cockpit door and behind her. Expecting danger, she quickly turned on her heel and was greeted by one smirking Wally West. "Hello beautiful. Did you miss me?"

"Wally," the young woman barely whispered before tucking her head down, almost collapsing in on herself as she said, "If some psychic is messing with my head, you will be sorry."

Gently putting his hands on Artemis' shoulders, Wally calmly said, "It's me babe. No psychics, no tricks, no clones." Wally expect many reactions, the knuckle sandwich he got ranked about as likely as a kiss. "Yeah, I probably deserved that."

"That was for leaving two years ago. This is for coming back." Wally mentally smirked as he got his welcome home kiss.

* * *

Jade just watched the exchange in amusement, some things just never changed. As Shade stepped through his portal, the assassin could tell he was about to attack the reunited couple. She stopped the metahuman with an arm across his chest and a commanding glare as she said, "Leave them alone, they're too distracted to do anything right now."

"Alright then." The man said before asking, "Time to go?"

Jade just gave a wordless nod before turning back to the young couple, still too engrossed in each other to notice anything amiss. 'True some things stay the same,' she then looked down at her mask, finishing the though as she stepped through the portal, 'but some things need to.'

* * *

Artemis didn't even notice her sister leaving, instead it was Nightwing's voice on her commlink that brought her back to reality. "Tigress, we've got everything wrapped up here. Livewire and Mist are secure, although there's no sign of Shade or the invisible person you fought. Status?"

"I have Doctor Moon." Artemis replied. After a quick glance around, she was able to quickly surmise what happened while she was distracted. "Shade helped Cheshire escape, and," she was about let her friend know about Wally's return only for some quick movements from the young man clued her in to let it remain a secret, "I have some intel on the Shadows. It seems they've set up camp on Santa Prisca."

"Copy." Nightwing reported back, "Sweep the plane for any additional leads your sister might have left then meet us out here."

"Will do." Artemis stated before turning her commlink off. Focusing back to Wally, she said, "You're going to have to tell me why you didn't want Dick to know you're alive."

"Just confirming a hunch real quick." Wally answered before zooming forward and kissing Artemis' cheek. "I'll see you back at Roy's, Will's!, place later but right now I've got to run."

As she watched her boyfriend run out the back of the plane, and was mildly impressed he could now vibrate his body's molecules without getting nosebleeds, Artemis just grinned and shook her head. The world may still need saving, but at least she had her preferred partner back with her.

Wally didn't have to run far, just out of the back of the hanger, before he saw the Bat from the future decloak himself. "So, get all your answers?"

"Almost." Wally stated, "I think I know what's going on, but we've got to make one more stop to confirm it."

"Alright." Batman Beyond said as he grabbed the Mother Box off his belt, "Where to?"

"Ever been to Wayne Manor?" Wally asked with a grin.

* * *

"Somehow when you mentioned breaking into Mr. Wayne's home, I didn't expect that you would be ringing the doorbell." Terry commented as he stood beside Wally on the front porch of the mansion. Wally had gotten him to change into street clothes for the time, citing it would look suspicious if a vaguely bat-themed person was seen on the billionaire's property.

"Please, as if anyone could break into this house." Wally retorted as he rang the doorbell, "They'd never make it past Alfred."

Just as he finished speaking, said balding, mustached butler answered the door. At seeing the supposedly dead Wally West standing outside alongside a blue eyed, dark haired young man, the butler merely raised an eyebrow as he said, "Good evening Mister West. I'm afraid your visit is rather unexpected, but after such a long journey I would not be one to turn you away. Would you and your guest like to come in?"

"Thanks Alfred." Wally said as he walked inside, Terry following behind. "Is Dick downstairs?"

"He is." Alfred stated as he closed the door. He then reached out and grabbed Terry's shoulder as he asked, "I presume you are from the future?"

"An alternate dimension's at least." Terry replied, not sure why Alfred would ask something like that.

"Right, please forgive me for the assumption." Alfred then noticed Wally walking towards the library and called over, "While Master Bruce is entertaining downstairs, Miss Cassandra currently has Miss Stephanie and Miss Cissie staying the night in the upper floors. If you would wish not to be noticed just yet, I would suggest using one of the alternate entrances. Perhaps the stairs in the study?"

Although he saw the sense in the man's wisdom, Wally still groaned. As he turned and started walking down a different hallway, the Speedster mumbled, "That bookcase moves so slow, and half the time the trigger in the fish tank isn't even connected."

Not sure what else to do, Terry just followed after Wally. He honestly didn't know how slow the alternate entrance was, from his talks with the Old Man it seemed Speedsters had a skewed sense of time. Hopefully it would give him enough time to change into his Batsuit, just didn't feel right walking into the Batcave without it, even if it was in an alternate dimension.

* * *

As it turned out the study entrance really did take forever to open up, and then the pair had to walked down several flights of stairs. If there was a bright side it was that they managed to stay in the shadows of the upper deck. As Nightwing began recounting his skirmish at the airport, the Speedster was able to note some subtle changes, such as Tim now having a hood attached to his cape while M'gann ditched the hair and had a white skin tone. He also noticed some major changes. The good, Kaldur seemingly being promoted not only to Aquaman but also leader of the Justice League. The bad, Barbara in a wheelchair.

From there he listened as Tim recounted his fight against Clayface and the Mad Hatter, the Speedster would need to get the details on the newbies later. Finally there was Kaldur's story of stopping Sportsmaster from breaking Brickhouse out of jail, although the mercenary had gotten away with a different prisoner, Shade. With the rest of the story was laid out for them, Wally and Terry easily connected the dots, three teams unknowingly fighting the same fight. As Wonder Woman finished up her questions, Wally decided it was time to make his entrance. A quick look to Terry had the teen cloak himself before Wally started clapping.

As all seven people stared at him Wally announced, "Wow, real A+ teamwork there guys. Although Dick, didn't you learn how dangerous secrets can be about two years ago?"

Believing he'd seen a ghost, Nightwing barely managed to get out, "Wally.."

"Yep, that's me." The redhead stated, zooming down the stairs to prove the point, "Seemingly back from the dead and not a clone." Shifting his attention to his other friends, the young man said, "Hey M'gann, I dig the new look. Congrats on the promotion Kaldur. Tim what would Cassie say about you spending alone time with three young ladies? Barb," he actually paused, not sure what to say. His legs were literally tied to his identity, he couldn't imagine them suddenly being snatched away.

Thankfully his fellow redhead seemed to sense his discomfort as she wheeled herself over to him. Pulling Wally down for a hug, she explained, "It happened a few months after Antarctica. I might not be able to walk anymore, but I still help where I can. At least we got you back." She then realized something, straightened up and demanded, "Wait, do your parents know you're back? What about Artemis? Who exactly, aside from us and Alfred, knows about this?"

Scratching his head, the man answered, "Well I actually ended up at Roy, Wills! I swear I'll remember it next time. Anyway, I ended up at his house while Dickie Bird took my girlfriend out for his mission. Ran over and caught up with Jade and Artemis."

While somethings that nagged Nightwing about the night were beginning to make sense, it was Batman who spoke up. "So if you didn't die like previously assumed, just where have you been for the past two years?"

"Straight to business, huh Bats?" Wally asked, getting the patented Bat-glare in return. "Kinda hard to explain but I was in a space between dimensions, alternate me and his wife called it the Speed Force. I ran straight for two years until I'd built up enough speed and kinetic energy to break out. There I got some help."

"From who?" Wonder Woman asked.

"That would be me and the Old Man." Terry declared as he uncloaked next to Robin. The teen was understandable alarmed and reached for his collapsed staff, only for Terry to react faster and grab the boy's wrist and pull the limb away from his body. Eyeing the sidekick, the hero stated, "We've both been trained by the Old Man, difference is mine has about fifty years more experience and I've got access to tech that's just as advanced." He then released Robin and walked over to Wally.

Trying to lighten the mood, the young man asked, "Boy, you bats sure know how to make an entrance." He then addressed the room, "Everyone meet Batman Beyond."

"Really?" the newly nicknamed hero asked.

"What? You're from a future and it'll help distinguish you from Mr. broody over there." Wally explained, earning an eye roll.

"Whatever, at least you wasted enough time for the suit to connect to the Batcomputer and finish downloading."

"What?" Barbara demanded as she faced the Dark Knight of Tomorrow. "There's no way you hacked the Batcomputer. I've tried and never made it past the third firewall."

"The password is Martha39#Thomas66." Batman Beyond explained. Seeing the look of disbelief, he huffed before bringing two fingers to his cowl and opening a text window on his display. "Let's see. Spoiler, aka Stephanie Brown. Inspired by her rescue during the Reach occupation, she fashioned homemade imitations of well known Bat Gadgets to stop her father, the Cluemaster. Brought under Bruce Wayne's guidance to ensure she won't hurt herself. Arrowette, aka Cissie King-Jones. Took a shine to archery after seeing Green Arrow and Artemis save her father from Black Spider. Sought out by Oliver a year and a half ago after stopping several robberies. And finally there's Orphan, aka Cassandra Cain. She's…" the crime fighter's eyes widened as he read the last bit, "…now that is interesting." Turning back to Barbara, he asked, "Are you convinced?"

As the woman slowly nodded, the group could hear Batman mumble, "Now I have to rest all the passwords." The man then took charge of the conversation as he stated, "As helpful as it is to have Wally back, I'm afraid there are still issues that need to be dealt with tonight."

"Right," Nightwing agreed as he brought up two holographic profiles, "Cheshire and Shade are in the wind, no doubt about to cause more trouble."

"Yeah, somehow I doubt that." Wally spoke up.

While Oracle laughed and Miss Martian giggled, Aquaman rolled his eyes as Nightwing closed his and pinched the bridge of his nose as he asked, "Just what did you say to her Wally?"

* * *

After teleporting the pair to a safehouse, Shade had waited patiently as his handler changed. While the woman couldn't be rushed with only one useable arm, the metahuman didn't have much of a choice due to the nanites in his system. Finally his overseer walked back into the living room, only this time she wasn't in her combat gear. Instead Jade wore some tennis shoes, sweats, and a brownie hoodie; her right arm was in a sling while a backpack was slung over her left shoulder. She also had her hair pulled pack into a ponytail while a baseball cap covered her head.

Knowing the woman wasn't going to start the conversation, Shade asked, "Am I to assume we're going after the girls?"

He was surprised when Jade stated, "No, I don't think we need to." Knowing the man raised a nonexistent eyebrow, she explained, "Those two are minors, the league isn't going to charge them with anything serious. With the nanites the heroes are going to make a case that they weren't in control of their actions, which is more so true for Mist. By now they've already been released from the nanites while someone is scrambling to set up counseling sessions." She then smirked as she added, "Getting caught is probably the best thing to happen to those two."

"So then am I to assume we'll be going back to your boss?" Shade questioned.

"We could do that, or we could do something else." Jade stated as she dug around in the backpack before pulling out a rectangular device, something Shade recognized as the control box for the nanites. "Now then," Jade's grin returned as she asked, "how would you like that same level of freedom?"

"What's the catch?" the metahuman asked, warry of the deal.

"Harper, Crock, West, Allen and Nguyen." The woman answered, "You don't look into those families, you don't move against those families and if you hear of someone who will, you find some way to let me know. Deal?"

"Deal." Shade instantly agreed.

With a smile, Jade pressed the button on the control box and said, "Then I release you from Stagg's control, now and forever." Handing the box to her ex-subordinate, the woman stated, "Nice doing business with you."

"The pleasure was all mine." Shade replied as he crushed the box in his hands. Giving one more bow to his former boss, Shade disappeared into the shadow of the floor.

Jade watched the man disappear before heading out herself. It was a long bus ride to Star City.

* * *

"Nothing really," Wally answered, "just reminded her of what's important."

"And really? You're worried about a reforming supervillain when you have bigger problems?" Batman Beyond asked, gaining everyone's attention as he questioned, "Seriously, why haven't any of you done anything about the Apokoliptian using their business to help kidnap meta-humans?"

Not sure what the teen meant, Wonder Woman asked, "Could you elaborate on that?"

Seeing the blank looks around him, the Dark Knight of Tomorrow questioned, "Have none of you had to fight against Darkseid yet?"

"We've heard a bit about him from some of the New Gods," Miss Martian supplied, "but we haven't had an intergalactic problem since the Reach invasion."

Now knowing what he was dealing with, Batman Beyond used his connection with the Batcomputer to bring up the image of an old woman with white hair wearing a blue business suit. "This is Gretchen Goode, you know her as the CEO of Goode World Studios," he then hit a few buttons on his forearm that caused the image to shift, showing the woman now wearing blue armor with a golden breastplate, a red cape, and a face shield with the omega symbol engraved on the forehead, "in reality she is Granny Goodness, one of Darkseid's highest ranking, and curliest, generals. From what I can gather she'd been using her company's new VR goggles to scan for meta-humans before brainwashing them."

This information shocked everyone, but Batman kept his poker face as he commented, "While that is highly interesting, it will need to be something we confirm before we make any moves against Goode."

"Even then we'd need UN approval. No chance of that happening with Luthor as the Secretary-General, especially with the Light wrapped up in this." Robin commented.

"Is this Luthor like the one from my dimension was? A power hungry business man that thinks he's untouchable?" Batman Beyond asked.

"Pretty much described him to a t." Barbara confirmed, but was curious why Batman Beyond was referring to the man in the past-tense.

"Alright then." The Dark Knight of Tomorrow stated as he started walking out of the Batcave. "It'll take Wally a few days to let everyone important know he's alive, after that we can build the teleporter to take me back home. I can at least find something to make Luthor resign while I wait."

Left alone with his friends and mentors, Wally began to scold them all as he said, "Now, I hope you all realize the dangers of keeping secrets from your friends, and that it's alright to ask for help." He then smirked as he finished, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get to Star City and start making things up with a certain someone." The Speedster ran out of the Batcave before anyone could stop him.

* * *

As she stepped on the gas, Dana decided that Terry had a lot of making up to do. He'd been fairly good about their dates in the past few weeks, but then he suddenly has to leave town for who knows how long. At least Miss Kyle was back from Japan, and she had someone else to share in her misery.

"I recognize the irony," Melanie stated before she asked, "but shouldn't we try to be a bit more inconspicuous?

"Terry and I had a date planned for this weekend. With him cancelling so suddenly I really need a _run._ Besides," Dana questioned as she cut in front of a truck and took the offramp past Old Gotham, "I thought you were eager to meet the original Catwoman?"

Melanie stayed silent for the rest of the ride, which with Dana's driving only took a few minutes. Arriving at the Kyle estate, the pair of teens were meet by the older woman, who was dressed exceptionally well for a night in. Seeing Melanie, the woman asked her protégé, "And just who is this? I don't think I gave you permission to bring your friends around here."

"This is Melanie Walker," Dana said as she introduced the blonde, "she's a friend who has been a big help to me."

"It's nice to meet you Miss Kyle," Melanie said as she shyly waved, "you were the type of thief I wanted to be growing up."

Now that got Selina's attention as she questioned, "Random inspiration, or do you come from an established family?"

"Royal Flush Gang," Melanie admitted before adding, "although I'd like to think I'm not such a pompous asshole like the rest of my family."

The comment caused Selina to crack a grin as she told Dana, "You certainly know how to make some good friends." She then addressed both the teens as she said, "Well feel free to show Ms. Walker around and showoff your toys. Unfortunately I'm due in the city for an appearance at a few charity functions. And please," she told Dana, "try not to stay out so late this time."

Dana smiled and nodded as she led Melanie further into the mansion. Arriving at the equipment room, Dana opened the secret locker as Melanie admired the headlines. "So that's Catwoman, got to say I expected something a little different."

"Well not all of Gotham's old baddies were crazy maniacs." Dana supplied as she began putting on her suit. At seeing her friend's questioning gaze, Dana asked, "What? I told you I was going for a run."

"Do you even have a target researched? I though you said your boss was out of town until just recently." Melanie challenged.

"Well not exactly," Dana admitted, "I just figured it was about time for my boyfriend to have a bit of a bonus."

"You're going to rob Bruce Wayne?" Melanie almost screamed, "The guy is ancient, I though you said you wanted to be better than that."

"Please, the Wayne's were old money before the first stone of Old Gotham was laid." Dana stated as she pulled on her gloves. "He's not going to miss a few hundred credits. Besides, it's better I go someplace I halfway know about through my boyfriend's complaining than charging in blind to some crime family hangout."

Seeing the logic in the statement, Melanie huffed as she took the seat at the command console, but made one important cavoite. "You're going to donate everything you take tonight."

"Already planned on it." Catwoman stated as she pulled her helmet on, opened a window, and jumped into the night.

* * *

As Wayne Manor was closer than the city, Catwoman didn't have to run quite as far as usual. Still, it was rather creepy walking among the property's dead trees, and she was thankful when the mansion came within sight. The windows also proved to be unlocked, Mister Wayne probably not expecting thieves to journey all the way out of the city to target him, and low enough that the thief opened them easily and silently. As she stepped into an office, Catwoman quickly decided anything valuable would be too personal to the old man to take. As such, she walked further into the mansion.

It was a little disconcerting to hear her steps echo throughout the house. The fact that most of the furniture was covered with white sheets just gave the place an even creepier vibe. Eventually she came to a something resembling a living room. Thinking she could find some loose valuables in the coffee table, the thief entered the room but found herself drawn to some old photos.

"Wow, Mister Wayne was handsome back in the day, and he got around a lot." The woman pictured with the younger billionaire were some that Catwoman recognized from Gotham's history. Kathleen Duquesne, Andrea Beaumont, even the stage magician Zatanna, how did that woman maintain such good looks? However, Catwoman's attention was drawn to two photos.

The first was of a blue eyed woman with long black hair. She looked vaguely familiar, but it wasn't anyone the thief could immediately place. The second woman was someone Catwoman instantly recognized, even without the wrinkles and with the dyed blond hair. Picking up the photo, the teen asked the image of her boss, "What did you see in Wayne to go after him?"

Instead of getting an answer, the teen heard barking. Quickly putting the photo back before she dropped it, Catwoman turned on her heel to see Ace, Bruce Wayne's large mutt, growling at her. Holding up her hands, but ready to grab her laser whip despite how much she didn't want to hurt the old man's companion, the thief slowly said, "Easy boy, you don't want to hurt me."

"You really need to watch your back." Bruce Wayne stated from behind Catwoman. Before the thief could turn tail and run, she felt a sharp pain against her neck before the world turned black.

* * *

Bruce Wayne regarded the unconscious Catwoman on his living room floor. A quick once over of the suit revealed Selina had done a good job on its construction, seemingly basing much of it on the current Batsuit, but the neck had always been a weak point no matter how many designs he tried. There were a few external mechanisms, such as the claws, but nothing too severe. The old man wondered if he should "leak" some blueprints on how to reconfigure the components to something internally, no doubt McGinnis would throw a fit about Catwoman improving her gear and copying his.

But that was a concern for a different day, right now the retired hero needed to solve his current problem. It was much too soon for this, last he heard his old flame had McGinnis' girlfriend going after the last bit of the Yakuza in Gotham. She was still inexperienced in an actual fight and far too easily distracted.

There was something to be said of having a constant adversary, someone to keep one's skills sharp. At seeing the news of the new Catwoman, Bruce had hoped that she would prove to be his apprentice's foil. He already knew that the thief wouldn't directly risk McGinnis' life, due to who her trainer was and based on what he had read in that old Cadmus file. In time Gotham's Bat and Cat could dance again, but that time was not now. Right now it would probably be better to try and scare the girl off of this path.

Bending down was more of a chore than it should have been, but with Ace's help the old man was able to shoulder the weight of the unconscious body. A few minutes later and he had managed to hobble back down into the Batcave. After making sure the thief was secured, the old man hesitated. No doubt this was the last favor he'd be able to call in, but if he could help this girl, and by extension his protégé, it would be worth it. He wasn't surprised when the call was answered on the second ring. Not even saying hello, the old man simply stated, "I need you in the Cave, no questions asked," before hanging up.

Now he just needed to wait and hope he made the right choice.

* * *

As she woke up, Catwoman suppressed the urge to groan. Surprisingly she still had her costume on, which probably meant that Mister Wayne or the cops couldn't figure out how to get her helmet off. That thought left her head as she regarded the large space before her. She could see her boyfriend's boss typing away at the large super computer. To the left she could see an empty platform, and just beyond that a garage housing several out of date, but iconic, automobiles. To the right she could see several glass cases housing costumes that were immediately recognizable.

Suddenly something her boss said came back into Catwoman's head, _'Honey, the old Batman is as old as I am.'_

'Bruce Wayne was Batman!' Catwoman screamed in her head. She supposed it made sense, who else had the money to manufacture all the gear? Not to mention before the merger, Wayne Enterprises contributed to a lot of the infrastructure for the Justice League. 'Wait, if Mister Wayne is the old Batman, does that mean Terry…'

That line of questioning stopped as Bruce turned his chair around, grabbed his cane, and started walking towards her, Ace following after him. Standing before the thief, the man stated, "I know you're awake, and I know who you are."

"So then why don't you just get my helmet off and be done with it?" Catwoman challenged, causing Ace to growl.

Easily calming his dog down with a few strokes along its back, Bruce replied, "My aim is to stop crime, that does not necessarily mean the best course is to arrest every criminal. Sometimes it is best to give someone the option to walk away."

"So what? Is this where I'm scared straight by you? You tell me about all the horrible things that happen to girls like me that you wish you could have stopped?" As she spoke, Catwoman tried to get her arms free so that she could escape.

The answer didn't come from Bruce, but rather behind her, "Actually, that's what he called me for." At this point Catwoman shouldn't really be surprised that the Police Commissioner walked down the stairs into the Batcave like she owned the place. What was next, was the mayor Robin in their youth? The commissioner regarded Catwoman before turning to Bruce and asking, "So who is she anyway?"

"That's not why I called you Barbara." Bruce pointedly stated.

"What? It's not like you to be preventative rather than reactive." The woman stated before she started fishing, "So then what? Did you actually have a kid with Kyle and this is you're granddaughter? I figure you would try to talk her into turning from a cat to a bat, not scare her out of the life."

"Wrong, and you're not going to get any answers." Bruce calmly stated, although Catwoman could hear an edge to his voice.

"Fine, but if I arrest her a week later, I don't want to hear you complaining." Barbara then turned to the thief and asked, "So how did you get into this anyhow? Why do you keep doing it?"

"Not saying why I started." Catwoman answered, "But once I started, I found I was quite good and enjoyed myself. Besides, it's not like I'm not stealing from people who don't deserve it."

"True, but you're in over your head. You came here expecting Bruce to be an easy score, didn't you?" The silence was enough confirmation. "And now look where you are."

"I made one mistake," Catwoman shot back, "and I'm not going to make it again."

"That's what anyone who wears a mask thinks, but I can tell you from personal experience we're always wrong." Before Catwoman could speak again, the Commissioner stated, "I'm going to assume you have a general knowledge of Gotham's history. So let me ask you this, why do you think Robin and Batgirl suddenly disappeared?"

"I don't know. Did you get too scared?" Catwoman challenged, hoping she could get the older woman within striking range and then force Mister Wayne to let her go.

Instead of rising to the bait, Barbara calmly stated, "Robin got hurt, and I'm not just talking physically. The boy I saw as an annoying little brother couldn't function in society for years, I doubt he's a hundred percent even today. That led to certain other, _events_," here the woman glared at Bruce, making Catwoman wonder just what exactly happened between the two, "that made me realize it was better I left."

"But you couldn't stop fighting crime, now could you Commissioner?" Catwoman questioned, not seeing the point of the story.

"You're right, I couldn't stop. But I was a cop's kid, so I did things the right way. Went to the academy, top of my class." Suddenly the woman looked to the ground, appearing for the first time vulnerable. "But I'm sure you've felt it, that itch to put on the mask and just run wild. Even after I was on the force that itch remained. It got to the point where I couldn't ignore it, so I found my old homemade Batgirl outfit and went onto the roof tops. I told myself that I was just going to run around a bit, but then I saw a mugging. Without thinking I leapt into action. The victim got away but before I could close the distance the mugger shot at me." Here the Commissioner paused as she rolled up her shirt, "It's funny what the brain and the body does. My brain said to dodge to the side like I'd done countless times, but my body was used to the police training that said I was wearing a bullet proof vest." Catwoman watched as Barabara shoved the clothing aside, revealing a large scar crossing over the woman's stomach.

As the teen could only look in shock, Barbara continued her story, "You kids are lucky today. You get hit with a laser as long as it's non-lethal the wound gets cauterized. I almost bled out in that ally, but by some luck someone called an ambulance and I was saved. My luck continued to hold, the shot went through so the surgeon didn't have to hunt for the bullet, but I was half an inch from never walking again." She then moved her vest back into place and rolled her shirt down as she continued, "Amazingly my dad didn't lose his job, despite his daughter being found near death in a Batgirl outfit, I'm still not sure what strings were pulled to make that happen. But despite all that I was still struck by one misfortune. That bullet stole a piece of my future, I can't have kids."

As she let that bit of information absorb into Catwoman's head, Barabara finished her lecture. "The choices you make now are going to affect you in the long run. Don't ruin your life for a bit of fun while you're young." She then began walking up the stairs but called over her shoulder, "Bruce, do not call me for _anything_ ever again."

Now left alone, Catwoman watched as Bruce walked back to his chair, "I hope I've given you something to think about, but you should probably leave before the kid gets back." As he talked, the man hit a button, releasing the thief's restraints. As she rubbed her wrists, the teen began to walk towards the stairs but paused when Bruce called out, "As wonderful as it would to catch up with Selina, I think it's best we kept this little meeting to ourselves." Catwoman didn't give an answer, but once more her silence was confirmation enough.

Now left alone in the Batcave, Bruce went back to monitoring the situation. It had been two days since Terry and Wally had left, hopefully the kid wouldn't be done for too much longer.

* * *

The past two days had been interesting for Will. Wally coming back was certainly a plus, especially where Artemis was concerned. The clone couldn't remember seeing his sister-in-law with such a big smile when the Speedster returned to his house later that night and swept the young woman into his arms before disappearing upstairs.

The second shock came with the second unannounced visitor that night, his wife Jade. Although he was curious about the sling, he shelved that question while they had a long talk that lasted until the sun rose. Ultimately they weren't back to where they used to be and still had some issues to work out, but going to Black Canary's counseling sessions together would be an immense help. Mostly he was just thankful that Lian had her mother back, as helpful as Artemis was there's just some people that couldn't be replaced.

That was yesterday, which the couple spent talking with Kaldur about arranging a full pardon for Jade. It took a little doing, and several interrogations/debriefings, before the Atlantean was confident he had enough information for the UN for Jade to continue her life without being harassed by Superheroes. He also mentioned a possible job opportunity in the near future.

Which brought the family to today, the scheduled family get together/playdate. He could tell that Jade was still a little uncomfortable with the way some of the mothers looked at her, particularly Iris and Mera. Surprisingly it was Raquel and Karen who were the most welcoming of his wife, possibly remembering the few times Cheshire had subtly helped out the Team. At least Jade seemed to fully endear herself with the rest of the ladies when Will joked with Red Tornado about not being the only guy present. Still, if sleeping on the couch, a threat he no doubt his loving wife would actually enforce, was the price for his wife's happiness he certainly wasn't going to complain.

As Lois brought in baby Jonathan, Will noticed a suspicious SUV pull up to the house. For a moment the Archer was afraid the meeting had been compromised, but relaxed when he recognized who stepped out of the car. Hopefully there wasn't any paparazzi around, it would be hard to miss that green skin.

* * *

"Are you sure I'm not intruding?" Queen Perdita once again asked her boyfriend as the car stopped in front of the West family home.

"I'm sure." Garfield instantly answered, taking a moment to appreciate that his long time girlfriend wasn't wearing her formal dress, instead opting for some skinny jeans, a dark blue tank top, and some flip flops. She still insisted on wearing the diamond necklace, but when it was part of the crown jewels who was he to object to tradition? Getting back to the conversation, the former hero stated, "You always say you want to meet some of my friends, and trust me when I say this is one of the less chaotic gatherings."

"If you say so." Perdita replied as they walked to the front door, which was soon answered by grinning Bart Allen.

"Hey Hollywood," the teenager greeted the pair, "if I knew you and the royal were coming I'd get the red carpet."

Returning the grin, Garfield introduced the pair, "Perdita, meet Bart Allen, Speedster from the future."

"Dude, you can't just speak of time travel where anyone can hear you!" Bart lectured his friend before turning to Perdita, taking her hand as he said, "And we meet before, at the funeral."

Growing somber, Perdita reflected, "That was a hard day for everyone," she then smiled as she said, "still I believe the first Kid Flash is somewhere, looking out for us."

"At least when he's not cleaning out the buffet." Bart joked, earning a laugh from everyone. "Well come on in and meet everyone, although there might be a few surprises."

Walking into the living room, Garfield was sure Bart meant Perdita would be surprised at how domestic the life could be, but the shape shifter saw a rather different surprise. Glaring, the teen had venom in his voice as he asked, "Just what is _she_ doing here?"

"Relax brat," Jade reprimanded the former hero, "I'm going straight, again. Even got myself a full pardon this time around."

"And you all are really okay with this?" Garfield asked the room, only mildly shocked when Karen spoke up.

"Look Gar, we don't fully trust her, but Will and Artemis asked us to give her a chance." Noticing that most of the older children were preoccupied in a different room, the women added, "And honestly it's more so for Lian than anyone else."

A quick glance at Jade showed the former assassin nod in understanding. Garfield was about agree to be civil and make the rest of the introductions when his advanced hearing heard something unexpected, the backdoor opening and closing. Turning to Iris, the teen asked the matriarch of the Allen family, "Who was out back?"

The answer came when the unexpected visitor walked in from the kitchen, carrying a plate and fork, "Hey Aunt Iris. Sorry for finishing off the chocolate cake, but I just couldn't stop myself."

"Wally West! That cake was for everybody! I can't believe you would…" Iris began to scold her nephew, only to realize who she was talking to. Her gasp of shock was mirrored by nearly the entire room. All the while Wally just kept grinning.

"What's the matter everyone? You act like you've seen a ghost." Recognizing Perdita, the speedster commented, "Come on and breath your majesty, I don't want to have to run out and get you another heart." He then turned to Bart and asked, "How have you been doing Bart? You treating the old uniform alright?"

That comment shocked everyone into action as the adults started crowding around the speedster. Iris was the one who managed to be heard above the chaos as she said, "You were dead. Barry and Bart saw you disintegrate." She then noticed that neither Will or Jade seemed surprised by the recent events. Quickly putting everything together, Iris pointed at the pair and stated, "You two knew about this, and you didn't tell us?" She then turned back to Wally and asked, "Does Artemis know you're back? Do your parents?"

"Hey, no need to get mad at the power couple." Wally stated as everyone began to calm down. "Anyway, Ro..Will found out the night I got back since I ended up at his house looking for Artemis. Jade found out when I had to talk some sense into her. I meet up with my better half later that night, and I was with mom and dad yesterday."

"Okay, that's great and all," Bart spoke up, "but dude! You've been gone for two years and you don't tell us when you get back!"

Wally just shrugged his shoulders, "I was trapped in an alternate plane of existence and forced to run for two years straight. I'm probably the fastest person on Earth right now, but that doesn't mean I didn't want to take it easy while I wait for Bats to make me legally alive again."

Although he was happy his friend and mentor was alive once more, Bart couldn't let go of a point of pride, "Gee, not even back for five minutes and already overexaggerating. I seem to remember you being pretty slow against me and Grandpa."

Knowing a challenge was coming, Wally just grinned as he said, "Okay pint-sized, let's settle this out back."

Bart just grinned back as the adults in the room began making friendly wagers. Today was already a great day, now it was getting better.

* * *

This was certainly making Lady Shiva's day. With the disgraced Ocean Master set upon the nuclear option, it gave the Light an excuse to tie up a loose end. Still, while the organization's new enforcer had proven herself, there was something else nagging her. Speaking to the seemingly empty room, the assassin declared, "Step into the light, you do not want to make me drag you into it."

"Wow, you're just as good as your file says." A dark haired, blue eyed teen commented as he stepped into the room. In the back of her head, Lady Shiva had seen that combination of features before, but couldn't place them. She also noted that while the teen calmly walked into the room their movements betrayed the fact they had training.

Quickly forgetting those thoughts, the women stated, "You aren't a shadow, but someone's trained you. You could have attempted to stop me, but didn't. Why?"

As the teen carefully walked further into the room, avoiding the growing pool of blood, he explained, "Something the Old Man learned was that while he could try to save everyone, sometimes he couldn't save people from themselves." Looking down at the cooling corpse, the teen finished his thought by saying, "It's something I've had to learn much sooner."

"So you're a hero then, but a much more pragmatic one then what I usually deal with." Lady Shiva stated.

"Just one with different experiences." The teen countered, "So let me be the one to give you this advice; that nuclear option you mentioned, take it off the table for good. I've talked to people who have seen what that does, it doesn't end well for anyone."

Noticing that the teen was now standing by the surveillance equipment, Lady Shiva raised her sword as she stated, "I'll be sure to deliver your suggestion to my superiors, along with your head."

The teen seemed unfazed as he replied, "You're free to try, but can I ask one question first? What do you hope happens when you reunite with your daughter? That you're able to defeat her and prove yourself the strongest, or that she defeats you and take your place?" Those words caused Lady Shiva to pause just long for the teen just enough time to reach into their pocket and throw a smoke pellet against the floor. Once the room was clear, Lady Shiva was unsurprised to find the mysterious teen gone, along with the memory card from the camera and the hard drive from the laptop.

Despite the partial failure, Lady Shiva still retrieved what was left of the surveillance and disposed of Ocean Master's corpse. She would share the warning with Deathstroke, the assassin may face some punishment but it was a better fate then knowingly hiding information from her masters.

After all, in the fight between The Light and The League, information was key.

* * *

For the past two days Barbara had kept herself sequestered in her apartment. While Wally's return from the dead was welcome news, that brought about a number of complications. Working with Bruce the pair had developed a cover story that Wally needed be placed in protective custody due to being a key witness in an important case, unfortunately the suspect meet a rather grim fate while being held in Belle Reve, allowing Wally to return to his normal life. Now Barbara just had to hack into the appropriate databases before forging and deleting the appropriate documents.

Honestly the work was easy for her, but lately she'd been distracted. Wonder Woman brought up a good question of whether their recent methods, while effective, were morally right. At the start of this, fighting against The Light as splintered teams seemed like a good idea, but now? Thankfully the genius was distracted from her mental debate when someone rang her doorbell. Knowing any of her friends were more than capable of coming directly in, the women glanced at her security monitor, not recognizing the teen standing at the door. Ordinarily he wouldn't seem like much of a threat, but the duffle bag he carried made the former Batgirl cautious. Grasping one of the batons hidden in her wheelchair, Barbara pressed the call button and asked, "Yes?"

"Um, hi?" the teen began, not inspiring much confidence in Barbara, "We meet the other day, along with Dick and Wally. I have some things that you might be interested in seeing." Barbara couldn't buzz him in fast enough.

Without the suit, Batman Beyond wasn't nearly as intimidating, it didn't help he looked eternally lost as he glanced around the apartment. Upon seeing the crush remains of Barbara's Goode Goggles, he commented, "Got frustrated hacking it?"

"Oh, no that was easy. I just got angry when I found out the GPS and mics were constantly sending out signals." Barbara admitted, "Although honestly I shouldn't have been too surprised." Switching focus, the woman asked, "You said you had something to show me?"

Taking his cue, the teen stepped towards Barbara's main computer as he unzipped his duffle bag. Eventually he pulled out part of his suit, the arm to be specific. Shortly the teen grasped a connection wire from the wrist and plugged it into Barbara's main computer. As the data began to transfer, the boy smirked and said, "I believe this should work just fine."

Almost instantly a video popped up on Barbara's monitor, just viewing it once was enough to make Barbara smile. "Oh yes, this will do nicely." Barbara agreed as she copied the file and began to comprise emails to facilitate the spread of the damning information.

Watching over her shoulder, the teen asked, "You're sending it to the entertainment sites? Wouldn't a standard newspaper have more credibility?"

"Too straightforward." Barbara replied, "It's likely Luthor has people blackmailed or bribed to keep unfavorable stories from seeing the light of day." Going through a proxy server for one of her fake accounts, the hacker then posted the video directly on the social media feed of a small political watchdog group, "The entertainment sites will rush to publish the story, the regular news will have no choice but to report on the speculation and then verify its authenticity." Barbara, satisfied with her work so far, wheeled herself away from her workstation before asking, "So what am I like in your time?"

"Tough as nails, someone who doesn't take bullshit, probably one of Neo-Gotham's best Police Commissioners." The teen replied immediately.

"Following in dad's footsteps, and here I thought I'd be wearing a cowl forever." The young women lamented before looking at her feet, "I guess your Barbara never had the incident occur."

"I couldn't tell you." The teen stated, "All I know is something happened to drive her and the Old Man apart." He then dug in her backpack once more before tossing Barbara something. As she easily caught the object, the woman gave the boy a look to which he explained, "Well my work here is just about done, I might not be around much longer but that should help you out some more."

Seeing the object was a flash drive, Barbara asked, "What's on here, more dirt on The Light?"

"Unfortunately even I'm not that good." The teen joked as he started for the door, "That's just some information on some experimental surgeries going through medical trails that I thought looked interesting, they seem pretty similar to some back home that are done routinely. I figured it would do for some light reading."

Intrigued, the women plugged the flash drive in and opened the first file. She almost felt her heart drop stop beating as she read the words "spinal restoration cord and rehabilitation." As she turned to thank the teen, Barbara saw she was once more alone in her apartment.

* * *

"I cannot believe I'm seeing this." Jaime Reyes, otherwise known as the hero Blue Beetle, said as he and the remainder of The Team watched the live broadcast in the main hall of the Watchtower, the Justice Leagues satellite headquarters.

"It just feels unreal," Cassandra Sandsmark, Cassie to her friends and the heroine Wonder Girl to the world, agreed as the new station repeated the clip compilation for the fifth time that hour, "I mean we've tried to get surveillance this good in years and nothing ever came of it."

"Who knows," Traci Thurston, the magical heroine Thirteen, commented, "perhaps he was just unlucky."

What transfixed the group of teenage heroes was recorded evidence of Lex Luthor, noted businessmen and current U.N. Secretary General, calling his finance broker to arrange the buying and selling of certain stocks, followed by calls to various world leaders with promises of payments and kickbacks if they voted in desirable ways on key programs or fast tracking permits for certain LexCorp back businesses.

While the Team began to enjoy their surprise victory, the Watchtower Zeta-tube began to activate.

"Recognized, Beast Boy: B19," The mechanical voice called out before continuing, "Robin: B20, Arrowette: B27, Spoiler: B28."

As everyone walked out of the Zeta-tube, Wonder Girl called out, "Hey Gar, I didn't know you'd be stopping by." She then glared at the three other teens and challenged, "And just what are you three doing here? You quit, remember?"

"Easy Cassie, I invited them." Garfield stated as he walked over to the rest of the group. "I figured everyone should be together for such a momentous occasion."

"He's right." Kid Flash agreed as he put an arm on Wonder Girl's shoulders, "look we still have our hang ups about each other, but can't we all come together and enjoy watching Luthor loose publicly for once?"

Before anyone could give an answer, the projection once more grabbed the group's attention as the reporter announced, "We have just received word Lux Luthor will be making a statement regarding the allegations. We now go live to the U.N. General Assembly."

The picture switched to the infamous businessman standing behind a large podium. "While I detest to even address such slanderous accusations, the simple fact is that these charges are fake news." Luthor briefly adjusted his tie as he continued, "Through advanced CGI and voice sampling some individual with a vendetta against me created this deep fake to discredit my character. That is all there is to it."

As expected the noise of the broadcast grew loud as each ambassador began shouting. Somehow one voice was heard above the rest. As the camera switched focus to the Atlantean representative, Kaldur's friend Garth, the man cried out, "The only falsehoods are your lies! Atlantis may only know of some of your misdeeds, but we are still aware that you would not allow someone else to run your business. I call for an immediate vote of no confidence!"

While that brought some cheering, what shocked many was that the next to speak was the ambassador from the United Rhelasia, Kaizen Gamorra, a bald man with a goatee who wore a red shirt with gold buttons, a blue sash with a gold chain on top of it. "My fellow ambassadors, I do not believe we need to take such a drastic action." The camera switched back to Luthor, who's smirk fell as the man continued speaking, "But this video does bring up many questions. It is true that Lex Luthor was instrumental in helping to unite Rhelasia after years of conflict, and it is also true LexCorp made millions assisting in modernizing our northern provinces." The room grew silent as each ambassador waited to hear how Gamorra would vote, "I am not ready to condemn Secretary General Luthor, but I do wish to find the truth of this matter." The ambassador finished as he stated, "I propose that a full investigation into the dealings mentioned in the video occurs, that the Secretary General be removed until this body is certain as to the validity of these charges, and that an interim Secretary General be appointed until the investigation concludes."

As the General Assembly was filled with low murmuring as the ambassadors began to discuss such a proposal, another voice rose above them. "I second Ambassador Gamorra's proposal." Troia, the Themyscira ambassador dressed in her people's traditional attire, stated. "I have made no secret of my personal animosity against Luthor, or my feelings regarding some of my fellow ambassadors, Gamorra included." The man glared at Troia, but stayed quit as he allowed her to continue, "Yet even one of my biggest political rivals has questioned Luthor's ethics. This investigation must happen, so that the public may witness just what kind of man Lex Luthor is, one who serves himself rather than the people."

Once more the camera switched to a clearly unhappy Luthor, "Very well, as the proposal has been seconded, protocol dictates I move forward with this farce. Let the General Assembly now vote on whether or not to waste resources to disprove the obvious fake claims against my character."

"Wow, Luthor must be really backed into a corner with how badly he tried to spin that." Virgil Hawkins, aka Static, commented as the vote commenced. Surprisingly a decision was reached quickly as save for a few outliers, such as Greater Bialya, nearly all pro-Justice League countries and a few neutral nations voted in favor of the investigation.

"Gotta admit, that felt pretty good," Kid Flash said as Luthor stepped down from the podium and began walking out of the room, the news switching back to the reporter who began to speculate the impact the meeting would have on future events. Turning to address the trio of late arrivals, the speedster asked, "So where does that leave you three now?"

"I guess ideally the investigation reveals Luthor's less than ethical dealings and Batman releases a statement explaining his distrust of Luthor and petitions for himself and the others to rejoin the Justice League." Robin stated before shifting his focus to Wonder Girl and saying, "And then maybe we can rejoin The Team."

"Well talk about it, and other things, at a later date." Wonder Girl flatly stated. "But for now, I believe it's time…" Before she could finish her sentence, the Watchtower alarm sounded. Quickly turning to her team, Wonder Girl asked, "Where's that coming from?"

"Level 16." Thirteen said as she brought up a holoscreen. "I don't see what someone could steal from there, the only thing on that level,"

"Is the Memorial Gardens." everyone answered before racing off to apprehend the intruder, their previous animosity forgotten.

Three seconds later, Wally came running from the other direction, carrying a large amount of electronic parts, "Geez, those kids, always rushing off."

"I'd be more concern about the fact they were distracted enough by the news to allow us to boom tube in here and not get caught until you purposefully set off the alarm." Batman Beyond stated as he uncloaked himself and deposited his own supplies.

"To be fair, do you ever expect an intruder in the Watchtower?" Wally questioned.

"One, not part of the League. Two, there hasn't been a Watchtower in my universe for years. And Three it did happen, Task Force X." The Dark Knight of Tomorrow paused as he pulled out the Mother Box, "Which reminds me, you might want to keep a close eye on Amanda Waller." The hero then addressed the organic machine and asked, "Mother Box, could you please show us the schematics?" After a short chime went off, the device projected the desired blueprints. "Looks complicated, think we can get it done on time?"

"Just who do you think you're talking to?" Wally questioned, having already constructed the internal skeleton of the structure.

* * *

"I can't believe this!" Blue Beetle raged as The Team and company rushed back to the central command of the Watchtower, "What villain is dumb enough to break in here and trash Wally's memorial?"

"I don't know," Spoiler replied as the group boarded the central elevator, "but they won't get far. Aquaman, Nightwing, Tigress, Miss Martian and Superboy have all been contacted. They aren't getting away."

"Especially if we find them first." Wonder Girl stated as the elevator doors opened, revealing a new addition to the room.

"So I'm not the only one who sees that giant machine, right?" Static asked.

"Whatever it is it can't be good. Time to dismantle it." Blue Beetle stated as blasters morphed over his hands. Before either Garfield or Robin could speak up, a familiar voice beat them to it.

"Hey, could you not blast apart the machine I spent the past twenty minutes building?" Wally asked as he speed from around the other side of the room and stood in front of the machine. The speedster then had to dodge an arrow, concussion blast pellets, a bolt of electricity, an energy blast and a magical lasso, "Geese, a guy's been gone for two years and this is the reception he gets?" At that point the man's previously tied shoes somehow became untied, causing him to trip and fall. As he rubbed his head, Wally asked, "Okay, who's the newbie with the bad luck powers?"

"That'd be me." Thirteen said before demanding, "Now talk, are you a clone or a shapeshifter?"

"None, I'm the real Wally West." At seeing the unconvinced looks he received, the man grabbed Wonder Girl's lasso and looped it around his wrist, "I'm the real Wally West, I've been trapped in an alternate universe for the past two years before I broke into a different timeline. I got some help, now I'm home and I owe BB twenty bucks because he bet you guys would attack me."

Wonder Girl was unconvinced as she replied, "My lasso isn't like Wonder Woman's, it can't make you tell the truth."

"But these three didn't attack him." Spoiler pointed out as she gestured to Garfield, Robin and Kid Flash. "Talk."

"So, we kinda ran into Wally during the playdate." Kid Flash explained.

"We were going to tell you guys, but with everything happening with Luthor we never really found a good time to bring it up." Garfield finished.

"And you?" Arrowette asked Robin.

It was at that moment the Zeta-tube powered up once again, "Recognized, Nightwing: B01, Aquaman: B02, Superboy: B04, Miss Martian: B05, Tigress: B07."

As the older heroes walked into the room, Tigress didn't miss a step as she walked up to Wally, gave him a quick peck before asking, "So, what kind of trouble did you cause this time?"

While Wally tried to laugh away the question, Connor immediately said, "So it is true, you're back."

Hearing this, Nightwing immediately turned to Miss Martian and said, "You already told him?"

"Luthor's direct political power is done, the U.N. is probably going to overcorrect and give the League more freedom, we might be separated on different teams but in the end we're fighting the same enemies, the time for secrets between friends is done." The alien explained, "Plus I was tired of lying to my fiancé." She then walked closer to the machine Wally built and asked, "So this is what's going to get your friend home?"

"Yep," Wally stated as he slapped his hand against the machine which resembled a slightly scaled down Zeta-tube. "Bats is probably going to want to move it later, but the main hall was the best place to build this interdimensional teleporter."

As the rest of the heroes became interested in the conversation, Robin asked. "And just where is your friend?"

"I'm right behind you." Terry stated, dressed in his street clothes, the suit stored in his duffle bag. Hearing the voice behind him, Robin, much like everyone else unprepared, jumped back and quickly got ready for an attack. Still, Terry focused on the Boy Wonder and shook his head while commenting, "That's the second time I've gotten the drop on you, the Old Man would be training you into the ground if he was your teacher."

Luckily before any other comments could be made, Wally called Terry over to the machine, "Come on buddy, I need Mother Box's help setting the co-ordinates."

As he weaved through the members of The Team, some awed someone their age was already a hero, Terry pulled out the living computer before handing it to Wally. As the speedster began talking to the technology, Miss Martian asked, "So is what Wally said about you being from the future true? Any tips you can share with us?"

"I'm from a possible future, so events might not line up right." Terry explained, pointing over to The Team and saying, "The only heroes I recognize from that bunch are Beast Boy and Static, not to mention J'onn J'onzz is the last Martian but he's been missing for years." He then thought about it before adding, "Although I'm sure there are going to be a few constants. I'm just glad the Old Man and the League took care of Cadmus before my time."

Here Connor questioned aloud, "If your world didn't have M'gann, I wonder who it was that got through to me."

Terry shrugged his shoulders as he answered, "I couldn't tell you, I don't even think Cadmus made a Superboy in my universe. All they had was the production line of genetically engineered heroes and Supergirl's aged up clone."

The pair took a moment to digest the information before Miss Martian asked, "Super…girl?"

Terry opened his mouth to reply but saw Wally waving him over, so instead he patted the two on the shoulders and stated, "I think I'll just leave that a surprise for the future."

As the teen walked away, Miss Martian commented, "Terry's world sounds pretty strange."

"That's something we can agree on." Connor agreed with his fiancé, while mentally wondering if he should be happy about or fear the possibility of another Kryptonian hidden away from the rest of the world.

* * *

As Terry approached Wally and Tigress, the heroine pulled him into a quick hug and said, "Thank you again for bringing my idiot back to me."

Terry returned the gesture as he said, "I'm sure you guys would do the same if the roles were reversed, I'm just happy the heroes of this universe didn't turn into totalitarian dictators when a speedster died."

Overhearing the conversation, Wally asked, "Justice Lords?"

"Justice Lords." Terry confirmed, "Bruce showed me recorded proof that he can win an argument against himself." The teen then grew serious as he asked, "Now can we please speed this up? I've really got to make up for canceling date night."

"Sure thing." Wally stated as he turned on the machine, the opening filled with a bright light. As he handed the Mother Box back to the teenager, the speedster began, "So about the bet…"

"Keep your money." Terry said as he pulled out a tennis ball from his duffle bag and tossed it into the portal. As the ball came back through the portal, Terry finished, "It's probably no good in my time anyway, just call the next time you're in town."

Terry didn't wait for a response, just gave the assembled group a quick grin before walking into the portal. Soon after the teleporter turned itself off and with the spectacle over the younger heroes walked off to either Zeta-tube back home or start their training, Nightwing and Miss Martian went to update reports while Connor tagged along to be filled in on the entire truth of the League's secret operation.

Now left alone, Tigress playfully asked Wally, "So what are the chances Terry's girlfriend is the replacement of some villainess?"

Wally laughed at the question, but then thought about it. Old Bruce mentioned parallels existing, and Batman certainly flirted with many femme fatales, not to mention learning his counterpart had married a former villain, and technically Tigress was considered a 'bad guy' for a time. Quickly doing the math, Wally answered in complete seriousness, "Actually pretty high, I'd give it an eighty to twenty shot he's dating Catwomen without realizing it."

* * *

By now, Dana had killing time down to a science. After her disastrous break in at Wayne Manor, the teen quickly fled back to her boss' house. There Melanie had asked what had happened, to which Dana made up a quick story of the security system being better than expected, Mr. Wayne's dog surprising her, and the old man himself walking in on the thief. Thankfully the former Royal Club Gang member bought the story, but that still left Dana with a lot on her mind. What Commissioner Gordon told her stuck with Dana. She knew there were consequences to her actions, she just didn't realize how long term they could be. Still when her boss called her up for a run, Dana couldn't suit up fast enough.

As it was Catwoman stole more then credits, gems and antiques from the Yakuza, she also stole a list of safe deposit boxes that held even more goods. While Selina sold most of the information through her usual people, the 'retired' thief kept the ones in Neo-Gotham for her protégée. The banks of Neo-Gotham had better security than what Catwoman had encountered before, Melanie proved to be a good friend in instructing which wired to cut and where to weld the doors together to keep security out. Once those trivial tasks were complete it was just a matter of using the blank digi-keys, obtained by Selina through her usual fence, to open the safe deposit boxes. The reward for all this effort, a few data drives, no doubt loaded with black mail, and numerous uncut gems.

In all Catwoman hit five banks in a single night, remaining undetected until she purposefully set off the alarm on her way out of the last heist. She did need to give the news a good photo after running around for so long. Of course the police showed up and gave chase, Catwoman was sure the Commissioner had even joined in to try and stop her, but with some guidance the thief was able to evade the authorities, heading down to the lower levels and using the tight ally ways to her advantage. Eventually she got far enough away from the cops that she could turn on stealth mode and escape back to the upper levels, hitching a ride on a bus to the city limits before running back to the Kyle estate.

That was yesterday. As usual Selina took most of the haul, although she'd given Melanie a few gems for her assistance. For her part Dana was content with the small emerald that she had set on a nondescript platinum band. As she sat in the library to do research for a school assignment, she couldn't help but admire her latest trophy. As such, Dana was caught unaware when a certain someone slid into the seat next to her and asked, "What do you have there beautiful?"

"Terry!" Dana nearly yelled, just able to keep her voice down enough so as not to be kicked out. Remembering his question, the teen replied, "Just a little something I bought with part of my paycheck. How was your leadership conference?"

"It was alright. Meet some interesting people, made a few interesting contacts for possible future work." Terry replied with a shrug before smirking, "I was able to guilt the Old Man about missing date night, he got us a reservation at Dini's."

"Wow." Dana gasped. She might not know what Bruce Wayne's plan was, but she could appreciate him pulling strings to get the two a table at one of Neo-Gotham's most exclusive restaurants. "That's a pretty big step up from our usual burger joint, do you have appropriate attire?"

"Hey, I have a suit." Terry shot back, grumbling under his breath, "Mr. Wayne insisted I get a fitting when I started working for him." He then turned back to his girlfriend and asked, "So, you free tonight?"

Dana gave a grin as she said, "Sure, just let me run home and change. Come pick me up in a few hours, and be ready to be out for a _long _night." Dana could tell be her boyfriend's matching grin he knew exactly what she was implying.

As she watched Terry walk away, Dana could admit that she was playing a dangerous game. Terry was Batman, if he ever found out she was Catwoman it'd be worse than when she was fear gassed. Still, Terry was a great guy, someone who'd she'd been with for a long time, who listened and helped when she had a problem. Sure they had their little lover's quarrels but they always made up in the end and Dana was unwilling to throw away the relationship because of something that might not happen.

Plus if she worked hard, Dana might just be able to steal a treasure not even the original Catwoman could, the heart of a hero.

* * *

**Wow, 40 pages. Although it was fun to write, I don't think this will be the norm going forward. Nevertheless, I hope everyone enjoyed reading it.**

**So yeah, there was a bit of ** _ **Young Justice ** _ **sprinkled into this chapter. I do have a general idea of a "Wally lives" rewrite of season 3, no doubt some readers picked up on plot lines I'd use in such a story, but it's not something I'm going to start any time soon, there's a few other projects I need/want to start/update before I do that.**

**Bruce's inner monologue about Dana showing up too soon is actually a little joke for myself. I'd always planned for something like that scene to occur, just much later in the story. However, as I was writing out this chapter I realized that I had nothing for Dana to do during Terry's time helping Wally. Even when I have a chapter focus on one of the leads, I like to have a mention of what the other is doing just to showcase no one is being idle. The more I thought about it, I realized if I had this scene this early in the story it would give Dana more motivation for future plot points aside from just being curious about what is going on. It also sets up a, at least in my opinion, neat dynamic where Dana is in the know and can use that knowledge to her advantage.**

**Admittedly while this chapter was fun to write, it was mostly setting up for future chapters. As such there are many unanswered questions, questions such as…**

**What is Ivy's grandson up to?**

**How does Bruce know about Dana being Catwoman?**

**Will Terry ever learn the truth?**

**For the answers to these questions and more, keeping reading ** _ **The Bat and The Cat** _ **, but until then, here's acw28 saying, "Until next update."**


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